The World is not Enough
by Sulphurya
Summary: Sephiroth killed Aeris.But Aeris returns to stop him, a mission given to her by the ancients, and is up against the most difficult task of all: how do you make someone like Sephiroth see that life is worth living?
1. Which Flavour?

_Prologue:_

_The voices told her to not be afraid. They told her it would hurt, but the pain would go away._

_They told her it would be alright. Everything would be corrected, she would correct the disturbance created by humans._

_And Aeris believed them._

_She left while Cloud was unconscious, making sure nobody noticed as she knew they would try to stop her._

_Aeris loved them for it, but knew she had to do what her ancestors told her to. Her feelings mattered little when the entire planed was at stake, right?_

_Still, it was frightening and lonely to leave them behind and make her way towards the sleeping forrest._

_Towards her fate._

_Aeris didn't know what would happen, but something told her she preferred it that way._

_Not knowing meant she could hope._

_Hope for what...?_

_A miracle._

**1. What flavour?**

Sephiroth laughed hoarsely as he stumbled on the rocky road, his hand still clutching the Masamune tightly.

He was so close! All he had to do now was to reach the North, where all his powers were waiting for him.

The final threat was gone, and the path was wide open to him! Mother had been right all along!

He could feel the invisible strings pulling at him, and Sephiroth forced his weary body to continue. It was almost painful to walk now, but he was used to pain by now. He had, after all, grown up with it. It was his ever-faithful friend that came to visit him every day in many shapes. A needle. Hands. Electricity. So many shapes.

Chuckling again, Sephiroth knew the days of him hurting was over. His days and nights of confusion was over for good!

He was comming home. And mother would be there to greet him!

Triumph was so close he could taste it, but Sephiroth lifted a hand to his aching head.

If only he could shut out flashes of memories he wasn't sure was his, voices screaming for him to stop and the sound of sword against flesh. He considered resting for a moment, but immediately felt mother pulling at him again. He had to continue. The puppet and it's puppet friends would soon follow when recovered from the shock of loosing their Ancient.

Sephiroth bit back a groan and his fingers dug into his silver hair as he suddenly remembered how easily Masamune had cut through her slender frame. The sound of her heartbeat comming to a halt thundering in his ears. The scent of flowers that had numbed his senses as he let her fall to the ground. Sephiroth shook his head, frustrated at how the memory wouldn't leave him. He didn't even know the young girl, so why did her death bother him so much? What made her different from all the others he'd killed? Snorting with disgust at himself, Sephiroth forced his hand to fall by his side and his eyes narrowed in concentration at the desolate path stretching out in front of him. This was no time to get weak! He'd come this far, he couldn't turn back now! It was too late. Sephiroth could never turn back now.

Evening came without Sephiroth noticing, but it was only when pitch black night covered the land he let himself rest by a small fire. His body was fiercly protesting against the harsh treatment it was receiving, but he ignored it. At SOLDIER you learned to ignore pain and discomfort as easily as one breathed. Sephiroth had no time to consider cold, hunger or exhaustion. He had to get to his destination, everything else be damned! Pulling out Masamune, he let a white cloth move over it's shiny and deadly blade. The only thing in this wretched world that was truly his. That truly belonged to him and could never be taken away from him. Masamune would never obey anyone else. Letting his fingers move over the smooth surface, Sephiroth saw his own eyes reflected in it. Staring for a few seconds, Sephiroth then sheated the Masamune again, feeling like it was some strangers eyes gazing accusatory at him. Shaking off the uneasy feeling, he gazed up at the sky and figured it was at least 3 more hours until dawn and enough light for him to continue. Good thing one learned to be patient as well in SOLDIER...

"You're not going to succeed, you know," a silent voice said from just outside the light of his fire.

Sephiorth was on his feet, Masamune drawn and ready to fight in one fluid motion, "show yourself!"

Who was foolish enough to challenge the mighty Sephiroth, and how was it possible for this stranger to sneak up on him without him noticing?!

The figure hesitated, appearing to gather courage, then slowly stepped forward and into the revealing light.

Sephiroth's eyes widened and the Masamune faltered slightly. It was her! The girl he'd just murdered. The Ancient was standing right by the flames, gazing at him with her green eyes.

"Y-you're dead!" Sephiroth stuttered for the first time in his life, raising the Masamune again, "I killed you! You died! I saw you die!" Her ghost had returned to haunt him? His hands tightened their grip on his sword, even if Sephiroths mind weakly wondered what good it would do against a ghost.

Giving a faint nod, the girl held his eyes calmly with hers, "I did die. My heart stopped to beat and I ceased to breathe. Your sword stole my life." Shadows flickered over her features as the fire danced in the darkness of the night, and everything seemed to grow colder. "But it wasn't my time, Sephiroth. You are disrupting the Lifestream and the ways of Nature. So... I was returned."

Sephiroth sneered, "it brings tears to my eyes." He moved too fast for her to see, and had Masamune by her throat as he glared down at her. "I killed you once. I can do it again."

He was satisfied to see her flinch when the sword appeared that close, but annoyance quickly returned when she forced herself to meet his eyes calmly.

"Yes, it is in your power." The girl lifted her chin ever so slightly, "but I don't think you want to do that."

Scoffing, Sephiroth tilted his head mockingly, "and why not?"

Green eyes reflected fire as they still held his calmly, and the girl appeared to gaze into his very soul, "you tell me, Sephiroth...?"

A jolt of fear went through him and Sephiroth inhaled sharply. He could feel her watch his distress over her death, twist his agonized mind to relive the moment once again.

Taking a quick step back, Sephiroth held the sword against her neck on a long arm, eyes dangerously narrow. "You lost Holy! You're no threat to me or my plans, girl! However, you will make a useful piece to use against the puppet!" Why kill something when he could use it, right? That was all...

The girl merely shook her head slowly, "it wont be Holy that stops you..."

Letting Masamune sink before sheating it, Sephiroth raised a dry eyebrow, "what...? Are you going to kill me?"

"Killing is not the answer," the girl said softly, eyes filled with sympathy for him.

Sephiroth did not like that look. "It's worked pretty well for me. Not including you, but I shouldn't be surprised that the Lifestream couldn't stand to keep you either. Tell me... did you nag as much there? No wonder you got kicked back!"

His words didn't seem to affect her at all, and the girl merely looked lightly resigned like a mother would to a child.

Sephiroth liked that look even less.

He grasped her upper arm and yanked her over to sit down by the fire. "It's a few hours until dawn. I suggest you rest while you can, girl. We have a long walk in front of us!" Sephiroth sat down as far away from her as he could, yet close enough for the fire to warm him a little.

"My name is Aeris," the girl stated, reaching out her petite hands towards the fire.

Sephiroth scowled, "tell it to somebody who cares!" And that didn't make the once grand warrior sound like a petulant child at all!

Luckily he did not see her smile.

Aeris thought it would be harder to find him, but her ancestors had whispered where she should go. She'd been surprised to wake up by the bank of the water, soaked and chilled to the bone. The voices had told her to hurry. That her grieving friends musn't see her. It was more painful than what Aeris thought she could live with to leave the people she'd grown to love so dearly to think she was dead and beyond their reach. In a way she was. Aeris was dead. She had arisen as an Ancient and with a mission. Still... they were always on her mind. She missed them so much. They would be ok, Aeris told herself. They had a mission of their own, and all she could do was try to help them as much as she could. If Sephiroth wasn't stopped, everything would be in vain. Gazing over at the gloomy warrior, Aeris wondered who had the toughest mission... She remained silent, but was strangely mesmerized at his eyes. There were so many emotions in them, but everything was locked inside behind a wall of ice. Was it possible to thaw that ice? And what would she release if she did? So much hurt, all that pain bottled up inside. Anger, raging fury at the world that had let him suffer without comming to his aid. Loneliness, from always standing on the side and watching the others with their normal lives. Insanity... Yes, she saw it flicker behind his eyes, and it scared her more than his cruelty. Was it possible to save him as well as the planet? The voices had whispered how his soul had died, leaving a black hole inside him that sucked out his life and spewed out poison. Nobody was beyond hope, Aeris wondered and told herself she would have been dead a second time by now if her death hadn't haunted Sephiroth. So he was capable of feeling remorse, that was something. But the main obstacle was the power Jenova had over him. The creature used Sephiroth to act out it's plan, and was the real threat behind it all. If one removed Jenova, how would that affect Sephiroth? He was already deep in it's power and would easily take it's word over any humans. Who could blame him, really? What had humans ever did for him? He'd been a test-subject all his life, and Aeris shuddered as she remembered her brief experience of it. It would turn anyone bitter, she thought. If only I can make him realise he still can turn back. He can still live life! She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest before wrapping her arms around them. It wouldn't be easy... How do you make a furious, monster-infected, mass-murdering sword-fighter stop and smell the flowers? The thought made her smile wryly, and she felt Sephiroth cast her a quick glance, but didn't return it. She had to make him realise that this planet was worth saving. His life was indeed worth living. All she had to do was to find some flowers for him to smell!

Sephiroth gritted his teeth as he strode tensely along the icy road, trying to keep his temper in check. Ever since they had begun the trip towards his destiny, that girl... she was doing the most annoying thing...! She was humming! Constantly! Finally seeing snow village in the distance, her humming even began to interfere with him planning the route and his patience snapped. Spinning around, he drew a sharp breath. "Will you cease that at once?!"

Halting in her tracks, Aeris blinked wide eyed at him, "excuse me...?"

Sephiroth gesticulated frustrated in her direction, "stop... making that noise!"

Gazing puzzled at him, the young woman tilted her head and folded her hands behind her back, "you don't like my singing?" Aeris had always been told she had a beautiful voice, but the sour look on Sephiroths face made her wonder if everyone had just been sparing her feelings.

"Just stop it," Sephiroth muttered and turned abruptly to march on towards the small town.

A dull pain was throbbing inside his head and he tightened his hands into tight fists by his sides. His body was failing him, and he knew he had to rest again soon after a mere days walk. His original body would have lasted until he reached the goal he was drawn to, but he was weak now. Weak like the frail girl that now followed him silently. Why didn't he just kill her? A shudder of pleasure went through him at the thought, but the second his hand landed on the hilt of his Masamune the gnawing doubt came again. Obviously mother wanted her alive, but he could not phantom why. It was mother who ordered him to kill her in the first place!

Everything was so confusing right now, but Sephiroth knew it would all make sense when he reached mother. Jenova would make everything right.

It was there he belonged!

And then he would be all-powerful, not weak and frail like now! He would never know fatigue nor hunger again! Sephiroth was going to become a god!

Voices, thoughts and memories suddenly all became a mess inside his head, bombarding his brain to the point of agony and Sephiroth closed his eyes briefly.

He wasn't even aware of laughing until he heard it and slowly realised it was his voice, his laughter.

Sephiroth could feel himself slip and mother's shadow spread over him, making the world darker and darker...

Suddenly he realised someone was talking to him.

"W-what...?" Sephiroth asked in a whisper, managing to focus enough to gaze over to his left.

Someone was standing beside him, green eyes meeting his look with a cheerfully quizzical one. A young woman. Did he know her?

"What did you say...?" He shook the numbness away, gathering himself and felt his senses return. Aeris. The ancient. Had she always been this beautiful?

Smiling brightly, appearing to be unaffected by his strange behavior, Aeris pointed towards the snow-covered town, "we're not going there, are we...?"

Straightening and rolling his shoulders discretely to work out some of the tension, Sephiroth huffed annoyed, "of course! Or do you wish to continue without re-stocking? I am sure I will manage, but I doubt you would."

Starting with offence, Aeris huffed as well, crossing her arms. "No need to be rude about it." But as she gazed at the town, he could see the worry in her eyes.

A image of the burning Nibelheim flared up in front of Sephiroths eyes and he blinked hard to erase it.

"It is in my best interest to keep a low profile, so the town is quite safe," he drawled patronizingly, and felt a little better at the caught look on her face as he marched on.

There was a short hesitation, then he heard her trot after him to catch up.

Sephiroth had read her mind, and Aeris fought of a slight blush as she trotted after him.

Ok, so he realised she saw him as a mentally unstable murderer who burned towns for fun, but she had her reasons to think that of him!

One; He did burn down Nibelheim and kill so many people!

Two; He was a murderer. He even killed her!

Aeris nodded satisfied with her own defense and dared a look at the dismissing back of Sephiroth. Still, it wasn't good that he thought she saw herself better than him.

Aeris knew she wasn't better, just... more guided and skilled in determining right from wrong.

She'd seen him sway back there, seen the tense convulsions going through his body and heard the twisted laughter.

Aeris knew Sephiroth was loosing against Jenova, but was not ready to give up the fight just yet. Maybe she'd find some way to talk to him inside the town?

Always the optimist, Aeris gave herself an encouraging smile. There had to be something that Sephiroth would take as a threat or a challenge that would thaw him up a little?

And while sticking her head into the lions mouth, she also had to make sure he didn't burn the town to cinder and kill everyone in it.

Nothing to it!

...right?

Aeris sighed silently, still trotting to keep up with Sephiroths long strides.

She missed her friends. She missed Cloud. Missed him so much...

Forcing herself to push away the image of the blonde man, Aeris glanced around as they entered the town called Icicle Inn.

Had it been under other circumstances, Aeris would have been thrilled at the cozy town. Seeing the children playing and the cheerful snowmen in their greeting poses made her feel slightly more light hearted, and Aeris smiled widely as she wrapped her arms around herself in vain against the cold.

"It's so peaceful here!" She glanced over at the gloomy warrior by her side, "I heard people go here to snow board and ski in their vacations!"

Sephiroth finally saw the building he was looking for and marched off without looking at her, not caring what others did or what she had heard at all!

Gazing after him, Aeris frowned. Clearly manners weren't something one learned at SOLDIER!

Rubbing her numb arms, she studied each building, smiling at the children that waved cheerfully to her and complimented the snowman they were building.

Finally her eyes came to rest on a building and her smile broadened even more.

Yes, that might actually work!

Aeris realised it was a strange, somewhat childish, idea, but it might just work!

Sephiroth slipped the last ether into his pocket after the merchant happily accepted the gil, and walked back into the cold.

Outside he quickly scanned the area and uneasiness began to creep into him.

Where the hell was she?!

Sephiroth hadn't bothered to order her to come with him as this was a small town with few places to hide and she knew he would burn it down to smoke her out, quite literarily!

Gazing around, he frowned and his hand moved by it's own will over to the hilt of the Masamune.

At that moment, Sephiroth saw Aeris exit a house and wave a cheerful goodbye to it's inhabitants.

Anger flaring up inside him, he strode over to her, fuming at his hostage's lack of fear.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Sephiroth snapped angrily and Aeris spun around to face him.

It was a little satisfactory to see her pale, but she held up a little too well for him to be able to feel smug about it.

"I just..." She began meekly, but Sephiroth wouldn't hear it.

"I was about to burn down this entire town because of you little stunt! Do you want that?! This is no vacation we're on! We're NOT here to enjoy ourselves and go sight-seeing! Understood?!" His rant was interrupted than as she lifted her hand and promptly shoved something into his mouth.

His first instinct was that she was trying to poison him, and his hand flew to the Masamune, but then this incredibly sour taste attacked his mouth and Sephiroth was unable to keep from squinting and shuddering.

"What the devil...?!" He slurred, about to spit out the object, but then Aeris lifted two little bags in bright colours filled to the brink.

"I got us some candy!" She grinned happily, "the one I gave you are my favorites! Do you like it?"

Sephiroth shuddered again, but managed to pry one eye open, "you bought... candy? Now?!"

He could have sworn she was having trouble keeping from laughing at the look on his face, but her answer was calm enough, "yes, when I saw the shop I remembered hearing they said you could buy the worlds best sweets here!"

Only his pride as man and first class SOLDIER kept Sephiroth from spitting out the sour evilness wrecking havoc inside his mouth, and he managed to put up a somewhat straight face, "really? Faschinating...!"

Aeris giggled and held out one of the small bags, "here. I didn't know which flavour you preferred, so I bought a little of each."

Staring at the bag, Sephiroth absently chased the sour torture-device around in his mouth with his tongue. Which flavour did he prefer? He had no idea.

Remembering vaguely one of the lab-assistants had once brought him chocolate and it had tasted wonderful, but besides that candy was not a part of his life.

Even as he grew up and got a little more freedom, it was firmly imprinted in his brain what he should eat to keep up his strength and avoid useless treats.

Snatching the bag, Sephiroth glared angrily at her. "We don't have time for such childishness!"

He spun around and shoved the little bag discreetly into his pocket, "we're staying at the inn for the night and start up again early next morning! And no more wandering, or I swear you'll regret it! Understood?"

Hearing her confirm in a solemn voice didn't shake the feeling that she was smiling.

Huffing, Sephiroth marched towards the inn and unknowingly petted the brightly coloured treasure in his pocket. Wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

The room was small, but cozy. Aeris noticed with some relif that Sephiroth had at least ordered a room with two beds, even if it felt awkward to share a bedroom with a stranger.

Sephiroth quickly settled in the room, and decided on the bed by the window. He seemed a little absent as he went over his armour, before polishing the Masamune, and Aeris didn't dare to wonder what he was thinking about.

However, a quick investigation revealed a pleasant surprise.

Aeris exclaimed happily at the sigh of the jacuzzi in the bathroom and bit her lip uncertainly as she stood in the doorway gazing at the man on his bed.

"Do you mind... if I take a bath?" She asked meekly, not wanting to admit she had never actually tried a real jacuzzi.

Sephiroth got up and walked into the bathroom as well, making her unknowingly back into a corner.

Dear Planet, he wasn't planning on insisting on watching, or even worse, join her?!

The warrior had a quick investigation before leaving with a gruff; "go ahed."

Exhaling, Aeris realised he'd checked the room for possible escape routes and she finally relaxed.

Closing the door, she locked it and turned with glee to the awaiting jacuzzi.

It didn't take long before Aeris realised why jacuzzies were so longed after and she completely lost track of time.

Opening her eyes with a start, she figured she had to been in there at least for an entire hour and decided to get out before Sephiroth got impatient and decided to come and get her himself.

Blushing at the thought, she got dressed and slowly opened the door.

It was awfully quiet and Aeris got a little nervous.

"Sephiroth?" She poked her head in first to see what he was up to, almost hoping to find him asleep.

No such luck.

She saw he was in fact very awake, still sitting on his bed.

Sighing, Aeris entered with a trying smile, "I'm sorry. I lost track of time..."

"S'okay..." Sephiroth mumbled and she noticed the odd look on his face.

Carefully approaching him, Aeris tilted her head. Something was wrong. He seemed tense and was actually quite pale.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he was staring at something on the floor.

Gazing down as well, Aeris' eyes widened in understanding and she gazed worried at the former general.

"Oh, Sephiroth..." She crouched down and picked up the evidence, "you ate ALL the candy at once?"

Tossing the empty paper in the waste basket, Aeris placed a hand to Sephiroth's forhead, noting how he flinched at the contact.

He felt warm, but that was to be expected.

"If you eat so much candy at once, you're going to get sick, you know," she scolded softly, urging him to lie down to rest.

Resisting her guiding hands, Sephiroth grunted annoyed, "well, now I know..."

Not giving up until he was resting on the bed, Aeris then went to get a washcloth, held it under cold water and wrung it up to return to find Sephiroth trying to hoist himself up on his elbows with a queazy look on his face.

"Lie down or you will throw up!" Aeris commanded, placing a gentle hand on his chest and shoved him down, "unless you want to throw up?"

The groan she got in return was enough to confirm her suspicion that he did not want to, and she gave a little smile as she placed the cool cloth over his forhead.

"Just relax. A good night sleep and you'll be fine again tomorrow."

Sephiroth wanted to object, his ego reeling at the little girl ordering him around, but his stomach rolled ominously as he moved.

Resigning, he let himself sink into the soft pillows and swallowed down another wave of nausea. It was not like he wasn't in control, but it was in his pride's best interest that he didn't provoke his stomach anymore. Who would have thought the candy could reduce the mighty Sephiroth like this, he thought wryly and closed his eyes as gentle hands placed a sheet over him. Why was she doing this? Was she hoping he would fall asleep and she could escape? Had she been planning this from the second she saw the store?

"This doesn't change anything, you know," Sephiroth growled quietly, "you wont be able to escape me."

There was a soft laugh and he heard her retreat to her own bed, "I know. I'll be a good hostage. You just sleep now, ok?"

Sephiroth could have sworn she was making fun of him, but was too sick to care. "Try anything and I will kill you." He frowned and added, "again."

"I heard you the first time," was the reply, and this time he heard a little taint of sadness in her voice.

Good.

Sephiroth allowed his muscles to calm slightly, exhaling tiredly as he prepared himself to sleep through the night. Sleep so lightly a stealthy step would wake him up, but sleep nonetheless.

The washcloth felt wonderfully cool against his skin and he wondered vaguely why she had fetched it. He was her captor, her life had ended once at his hands already, and yet she made an effort to ease his discomfort. It made no sense!

Kindness was as foreign to him as showing mercy.

He'd been taught to fight and kill from when he'd barely been able to walk, but no one had learned him to recognize other peoples suffering and broken dreams.

Sephiroth slowly lifted a hand to his temple, frowning at the memory of her hand on his forhead. Her hand had been soft, not the hand of someone training with swords until their palms bled. Why had she touched him? No one touched him, except when they aimed to hurt him. Her touch had been anything but painful, yet it felt more threatening to him than any wound he'd ever received. It made no sense!

And mother was quiet.

Letting his hand sink to rest by his side, Sephiroth tried to turn his mind blank and force himself asleep, but thoughts kept tumbling through his brain.

A song she had hummed kept appearing inside his head, the memory of a brightly coloured bag of candy held out towards him like a childish gift flickered in front of his eyes and despite his nauseated stomach; Sephiroth groggily decided the black, salty thingies tasted the best.

He'd have to remember to ask her what they were called, not that it mattered of course, but just so that he knew.

Tomorrow they would continue into the snowy country and get even closer to reach his goal. His destiny.

Yes, Sephiroth knew he merely had to focus his every thought on his goal and things would return to make sense!

It had taken hours before Aeris managed to fall asleep, curled up on her side and fighting back tears.

In the darkness she had really realised how alone she was now, and with the man aiming to destroy the planet threatening to take her life if she tried to return to the friends she so sorely missed.

And Cloud... He'd been so miserable when she saw him in the sleeping forrest, and her heart ached for him.

Maybe Tifa was making him feel better? Even now Aeris was able to feel a twinge of jealousy, but quickly dismissed it as always.

Tifa was Cloud's best friend, and if they were to finally match up to live happily ever after, Aeris wished it would happen.

If only Cloud was happy... That was all that mattered to her.

Still, she had been going through memories and regrets until sleep finally had come to her, giving her at least one nights peace.

Who knew what the morning would bring? Aeris knew she was living on borrowed time. By rights, she wasn't even supposed to be there at all, but the ancients were all counting on her.

Sephiroth was dangerously unstable, and might kill her at any moment, making her mission a failure before it even began.

Well, it had began, but rather badly as her candy-experiment had gone so wrong!

She figured the infamous warrior hadn't too much experience in the sweets-department, but how was she supposed to know he had such a taste for it that he would devour everything?

No wonder he got sick!

Aeris had actually felt a little sorry for him when she'd seen the lost look on his handsome face.

It was obvious that Sephiroth was not used to being sick, even looking a little grumpy as she tucked him. Clearly a control freak, but that was understandable.

However, Aeris could never see a sick person and do nothing about it. She was unable to merely watch anybody's illness and be idle, even if that person was Sephiroth.

A door slamming made her start awake, and Aeris sat up abruptly to gaze wildly around. What was going on?

She gasped nervously as she found Sephiroth looming just by her bed, gazing harshly at her.

"S-something wrong?" She managed to stutter, clutching the sheet under her chin and tried to hide her trembling.

The former general hesitated, then quickly thrust out his hand to hand her something.

Aeris stared wide-eyed at the jacket he was holding and slowly accepted it. It was a thick, green jacket with a furry collar.

"You got this for me?" It was hard to believe Sephiroth would do anything nice for her, but clearly he had noticed how she was freezing the day before.

Shifting uneasily, Sephiroth then stalked over to the window before muttering; "We're going even deeper into the snow world. You'll freeze to death in your skimpy attire. You're more use to me alive right now."

Aeris got the feeling he had to add 'right now' to try to cover up a nice act that might soften her image of him, and she smiled slightly, "still... thank you."

Hugging the warm jacket close, she felt her mood lighten a little.

There was hope then...?

Sephiroth grunted and crossed his arms tensely without looking back at her.

Eyeing him curiously, Aeris slowly got out of the bed and began to unwind her hair, "feeling better?"

Grunting again, Sephiroth then turned to stalk out of the room, "I'll be downstairs. Hurry up or I'll get bored and burn the town to cinder!"

Combing her hair with her fingers, Aeris watched the door slam shut after him and hummed thoughtfully.

Sephiroth was obviously a mystery wrapped in an enigma, hidden inside a riddle.

He was an unstable murderer, with a weakness for candy and bought her a jacket so she wouldn't be cold.

And to confuse her even more, his eyes glimmered briefly with something as she walked down the stairs like a fashion model, pursing her lips and tugging the fur collar to frame her face. "Does it suit me?"

The silverhaired man lifted his chin slightly at the sight, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly at a reluctant smile and his voice was smooth as silk in his silent reply;

"Yes..."

Aeris numbly watched him leave, hesitating as she wondered at her racing heart and why she felt herself blushing, before shrugging off the giddy feeling and following Sephiroth before he came back to drag her along after her braid.

**AN:**

_decided to put this one up as I write, will try to update as soon as chapters are done._

_Aeris or Aerith? Both names works for me, but as I play the european game she's always been Aeris to me..._

_This one too is set in the Brat Prince-scenery, like the others, but will merely focus on Aeris and Sephiroth._

_Huge thanks to my reviewers, who inspires me and keeps me writing!_


	2. The Battle!

2. The Battle!

Aeris nearly walked straight into Sephiroths back as he'd halted right outside the door.

Stumbling to a halt, she gazed quizzically up at him, "something wrong?"

The silver haired man shook his head barely visibly, but his eyes had a restless look. Like he wanted to do or say something, but didn't know how.

Biting her lower lip, Aeris followed his flickering gaze and slow realisation dawned on her as she saw what his eyes kept returning to.

Poking the tip of her boot into the snow, Aeris cleared her throat discreetly, "I know we have to leave right away, but... I wont nag at all if we can just stop one second at the candy store..."

Sephiroth's eyes shot over at her, piercing her. "We don't have time to play your silly games! We're leaving! Now!"

She watched as he strode off in his usual impossibly long strides, and sighed before following.

This was not going to be easy.

They'd soon walked for hours through the snow covered land, and Aeris found that she was endlessly grateful for the warm jacket. Arms firmly wrapped around herself and collar pulled in snugly around her neck, Aeris managed to keep from complaining about the cold.

She was more than a little amazed that Sephiroth didn't seem affected by the low temperature at all, showing no signs of feeling any discomfort.

Was he even human anymore?

The silence had given her a lot of time to think and the more she considered her situation, the more depressed she got. There was no way she could win this fight. Not in such a short time!

Lost in her gloom, Aeris was completely unprepared for the harsh grip on her arm and she promptly lost balance.

Choking a startled yelp as she fell flat on her behind, she was unable to keep the terror out of her eyes as she gazed up at Sephiroth. Was this it? He'd decided to kill her. It's was over. She had failed. Everything was going to be destroyed, even hope.

However, she quickly realised his eyes weren't even on her, despite having drawn the Masamune, but focused on something in front of them...

Slowly turning her head, Aeris gasped and scrambled backwards until her back was against Sephiroths legs and away from the huge monster looming over them.

"Oh, dear Planet..." She whimpered silently, wishing with everything in her that she had one of her staffs, if just for the false feeling of having something to protect herself with.

"Stay here," Sephiroth demanded calmly, not taking his eyes of the monster. "This wont take long."

Stuttering, Aeris stared from the monster to the former general, "I... I can help..."

Sephiroth snorted haughtily, not dignifying her offer with a look, "stay where you wont be in my way, girl!"

Stuttering again, this time with both worry and offence, Aeris could only watch as Sephiroth stepped forward and lifted the Masamune in front of himself.

And in the middle of being scared out of her wits, frozen half to death and fuming with offence, Aeris felt awe sink over her like a blanket.

Sephiroth moved with deadly grace, eyes sharp and focused with Masamune like an extended part of his own body. His slender and musculature body danced over the snow, silver hair swimming softly in the air and death flowing through Sephiroths veins.

Dear Planet, he was beautiful...

The monster roared and lashed after the former general, but Sephiroth had no problems dodging the attack and Masamune was soon soaked with blood, snow melting when hit with the red spray.

Turning back to her as the monster fell, Sephiroth pulled out a cloth and wiped the Masamune clean while walking back to her, "get up."

Aeris was still staring.

He wasn't even out of breath, his hair looking as sleek as before he'd fought a monster twice his own size and his eyes deadly calm.

Slowly getting up on her feet, Aeris absently brushed the snow off herself, "that... was amazing."

Eyes narrowing, Sephiroth holstered the Masamune and turned to continue on his journey, "I've spent my entire life learning to fight and kill. I need a bigger challenge."

After the fight, Sephiroth fell quiet and was lost in thoughts as his legs moved by their own will.

Mother was pulling at him again.

The fight had left him energized and with a craving for more blood, but there was no time for that now. He had to move quickly, feeling the puppet and it's friends being on his trail, his pace not lessening as the hours passed.

He heard the girl try to talk to him a few times, but wasn't able to answer. His head was starting to ache, and random thoughts were getting harder to dismiss. Surges of paranoia came in waves and a strange laughter was echoing in the back of his head. His own laughter.

He wasn't going crazy, Sephiroth mentally chanted to himself, he was NOT going crazy!

Suddenly his instincts warned him of danger and Sephiroth quickly leaned to his left, feeling an object shoot pass his head.

Hand on Masamune, he spun around, only to barely avoid the second object swishing pass his neck, grazing his hair. It was no small surprise to find his hostage as the culprit, but Sephiroth had known it would only be a matter of time before she began to fight him. That time was obviously now. Well, she would find him very hard to kill!

Sephiroth was about to pull out the Masamune when Aeris launched another attack and this time he barely avoided getting hit in the middle of his face... by a snowball.

"What the devil do you think you're doing?!" He snapped angrily, his hand releasing the hilt of his sword, "has your brain frozen completely?"

Aeris huffed, patting the third snowball in her hands, "I don't like being ignored!"

Hardly believing his ears, Sephiroth tilted his head, "well, obviously you've gotten a taste for being killed! You don't just throw things!"

"Oh?" Aeris raised a challenging eyebrow, feeling the weight of the snowball in one hand, "afraid of a little snowball fight?"

Sephiroth had to sneer a chuckle at the absurdity, "I don't have time for childish acts such as..." And then he had to duck under the snowball hurled at him.

Straightening, he gazed sternly at her. "Right." And as Aeris dropped to her knees to gather snow, he did the same.

He'd teach her to challenge him! Bah, he'd never lost a war!

Sephiroth quickly realised he had two disadvantages.

One, he'd never actually made a snowball before...

Two, the girl was not waiting to throw hers until he'd figured out how to make his!

A quick jump to his side saved Sephiroth from the first flying attack, but also resulted in him squeezing his own snowball too hard and it crumbled between his fingers.

Cursing, he grasped new hands fulls of snow and angrily packed them together.

Side-stepping yet another snowball flying pass him, Sephiroth was looking doubtful at the compact lump of ice in his hand, somehow feeling that he'd created more of a deadly weapon than a harmless snowball.

Sephiroth dropped the ball, gathered once again snow and gave another try. A little more gentle with the pressure and he found himself gazing proudly at the nothing short of perfect snowball in his hand!

With a triumphant look, Sephiroth glanced over at his soon to be victim and blinked puzzled. What on earth was she doing?!

Aeris was lying on all fours and used both her hands to dig into the snow, stealthily creating a small hill of snow between her and Sephiroth.

She might be faster than him to make snowballs, but he had the reflexes of a snow-cat and would counter attack soon enough! She needed cover!

Pure luck made her duck as a snowball grazed her head and Aeris squeaked with surprise. Dear Planet, he was good!

Adrenaline was pumping as she quickly made a snowball, poked her head up and sent it flying towards Sephiroth, huffing as she saw he didn't even bother to seek cover and merely side stepped her attack again!

Oh yeah? She thought, ducking down to make two more snowballs, let's see how you handle this then, Mr High and mighty!

Popping up again, Aeris didn't flinch as a snowball grazed her shoulder, but sent her first snowball at Sephiroth and waited a heartbeat before launching the second.

She held her breath as she saw him dodge the first, and her heart jumped as she saw his eyes widen slightly when he sighted the second he hadn't calculated would come.

With impossible speed, the former general managed to avoid the hit to his chest, but Aeris cheered as the snowball hit his arm to Sephiroths great disbelief.

Waving her arms and laughing satisfied, Aeris did a little victory dance. "Got you!"

The silver haired man shook the snow off his arm and slowly gazed over at her, choking her laughter with one look.

Squeaking, Aeris ducked down into her little fort and franticly began to make snowballs. Oh no... He was after revenge now...

Her heart was hammering as she peered over the edge and she gasped softly as she didn't see him. Sephiroth had vanished.

Ducking into her fort again, Aeris turned to sit with her back against the edge and gazed nervously around, waiting for the ambush as she clutched the snowball close.

A few agonizing minutes later, she couldn't stand it anymore and peered over the edge again... instantly awarded with a snowball in her face.

Luckily it was a soft one, but the cold sent a shock through her and she yelped as she fell straight on her behind.

Shaking her head, Aeris blinked hard and focused her eyes just in time to see Sephiroth crouching on top of her little snow hill with a smirk on his handsome face.

"Gottcha," he smirked, arms resting on his knees.

Aeris huffed, raising an eyebrow, "don't get too confident, Mr Smarty Pants!"

His eyes widened comically as she yanked up the snowball she had protected from her fall and she threw it before he could react.

The impact on his shoulder made him loose balance as well, and Sephiroth landed rather ungracefully on his behind to a thrilled laughter from Aeris.

The shock on his face made her laugh even harder, and Aeris grasped a hand full of snow and tossed it at him, "I win!"

Snorting, Sephiroth grasped a hand full snow as well, returning the favor by tossing it at her, "did not!"

Aeris got up on her knees, "did too!"

Sephiroth lazily measured her, "did not. I got a full hit before you got me. The game was over when you cheated."

Gasping, Aeris felt anger rise through her, "I did NOT cheat! There are no such rules, and you know it!"

Shrugging, Sephiroth brushed away some snow from his knee, "in a real fight my hit would have killed you."

Aeris had never cheated once in her life, and no way was she going to be accused of it by someone who was trying to destroy the world!

"You better take that back," she warned, eyes narrow with thoughts of revenge.

The silverhaired man lifted his chin slightly, smugly confident, "or what...?"

Drawing a deep breath, Aeris closed her eyes and began shoveling massive amounts of snow in Sephiroths general direction, and was smugly satisfied to hear the muffled sound of surprise.

Sephiroth wasn't prepared for the minor blizzard that hit him, and it took him two seconds to gather himself enough to scramble to his feet and ward of the snow.

His mind was reeling at the sudden attack, and by all standards it made no sense!

The girl had lost! And even if she decided to not play by the rules, she had no chance of defeating him so why bother?

Years of military training and strategic knowledge defied what she was doing, and Sephiroth saw no other option...

He dropped to his knees again and began shoveling back with a vengeance!

It was then he noticed the laughter. The girls laughter. And someone else was laughing with her.

It was him. Only... his laughter did sound like his. Light and warm, it sounded like a strangers. But it felt so good...

Sephiroth suddenly dove through the miniature blizzard and pulled the startled girl along as he fell beside her, "you loose!"

He heard her squeak in surprise, but was once again baffled as she refused to give up and began shoving snow at his chest and face.

Cursing softly, Sephiroth grasped her wrists, rolling half-way over her to keep her down as he pinned her hands over her head, "you lost! Realise it!"

Huffing for air, he gazed down into her sparkling eyes, and was a little surprised to find no trace of anger or defeat in them. It was like it didn't matter at all to her...

In fact, she seemed more interested in studying his face and Sephiroth felt a little nervous.

"What?" He snapped uneasily, feeling snow melt in his neck soak his collar.

The girl tilted her head, a smile on her lips, "Sephiroth...?"

Why was his heart picking up it's pace? Why did his nerves tingle? What was this hyper sensitiveness to his skin?

Sephiroth swallowed hard, "yes...?"

Letting her eyes wander over his features, she then put up a pleading face, "can I braid your hair?"

Sephiroth blinked.

He released her like she was suddenly the most dangerous creature on the planet, not him, and sat up abruptly, "What-NO!"

Sitting up as well, the girl began to brush snow off herself, "why not? Pretty please?"

The former general got up on his feet, waving a frustrated hand at her, "forget it! Braid your own hair!"

She gazed up at him, running her hands meaningfully over her twisted braid.

Huffing, Sephiroth tossed his silver hair back over his shoulder, "I said forget it."

Obviously disappointed, the girl got up as well, still brushing off snow and he couldn't help but to notice the rosy colour in her cheeks and her trembling lips.

Oh no... she wasn't going to cry?!

Sephiroth was about to snap for her to gather herself and grow up when he noticed her hands trembling as well and the wet hair clinging to her pale skin.

"You're freezing," he stated, scolding himself for forgetting that everyone wasn't immune to the cold as he was.

Shaking her head, the girl tried to act brave as usual, "n-no, I'm fine."

Sephiroth snorted, "liar." He glanced into the horizon, "I think there's a cabin up ahed... We'll rest there."

The girl stomped her foot, glaring at him, "I told you; I'm fine!"

Chuckling silently at her stubbornness, Sephiroth motioned her to follow him as he set course for the cabin, "it will be dark soon. We need to stop for the night anyway."

And with that he strode off, fighting off the horrible image of himself with pigtails.

Aeris was so cold. She'd never been this cold in her entire life! Her fingers were frozen, her legs numb and her hair soaked to her damp skin.

Still, she was too proud to admit weakness to Sephiroth and was secretly so relieved that he insisted on them resting at a cabin that she could've cried!

It had been so many years since she'd been in a snowball fight, and she'd almost forgotten how fun it could be!

Aeris still didn't know what came over her when she'd suddenly picked up snow, packed it together into a snowball and flung it after Sephiroth.

It was a stupid thing to do. He'd killed people for less. But hours of the silent treatment had killed her final ounce of reason, so she did something crazy.

All in all, it had turned out brilliant! She hardly believed her own ears when she heard him laugh, and then felt a tingle at the rich warmth in that laugh.

Of course she'd known he would win the fight, but that didn't mean she would give up so easily, and his shocked expression as her snowball hit him would linger in her memory forever!

And that silver hair... just begging to be played with.

Aeris giggled silently at the memory of his utterly shell-shocked face at her question, but blamed the silver strands caressing her cheek for the idea.

Maybe Sephiroth just needed a little tweaking?

Aeris giggled again at the image of Sephiroth with pigtails.

She made a small cry of joy as they spotted the small cabin up ahed, but her joy quickly turned to worry as she saw the old man chopping wood outside.

Gazing over at Sephiroth, she saw his eyes narrow and his hand move over to his sword.

Gathering her courage, she reached out and placed a tentative hand on his arm.

The effect was immediate.

His eyes snapped over to glare at her, and Aeris had to use all her will-power not to pull her hand away.

"Don't kill him," she pleaded silently, holding his glare with gentle eyes. "Please?"

Snorting like an agitated race-horse, Sephiroth trembled tensely under her touch, "I wont have any witnesses. He can identify us if we let him live!"

Aeris mind scrambled for a solution that didn't demanded lives to be lost, and she drew a quick breath. "What if... what if I deal with him?"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes rather uncharacteristic, and would have moved on if she hadn't held him back.

"He wont see us. He wont be able to tell a thing. Just... let me handle him, ok?" Aeris knew she couldn't handle to mere watch another innocent life die in front of her eyes.

Finally conceding, Sephiroth pulled away from her touch, "fine. You get one chance. Mess up and you both die!"

Strange how this man had been laughing with her in a childish snowball fight that very day...

Aeris nodded, "alright." She made sign for him to wait there and made her way over to the cabin with a hammering heart.

She made sure the old man didn't see her, closing her eyes, mentally asked for his forgiveness and cast Sleep on the unsuspecting man.

It was with a sigh of relief that she saw him sink to the ground, and Aeris started as Sephiroth appeared behind her.

"Would've been easier just to have killed him," the former general drawled, resting one shoulder against the wall.

Swallowing hard, Aeris sent him a undefinable look, "help me carry him inside."

Straightening, Sephiroth raised an eyebrow disdainfully, "why?"

Realising he had no consideration for others at all, Aeris shook her head slowly in disbelief, "we can't just leave him out here in the snow! He'll freeze to death!"

Shrugging again, Sephiroth gazed at the limp form, "so? It'll solve our problem nicely."

Stomping her foot angrily, Aeris poked a finger at Sephiroths chest. "You promised he wouldn't die if I made sure he didn't see us! Now, help me carry him inside!"

He was looking blankly at her, eerie eyes burning into hers, yet she refused to budge.

Two heartbeats later, the silverhaired man sighed annoyed and picked up the unconscious man easily under one arm, "fine!"

Aeris watched him stomp inside the warm cabin with a smile. Aeris - one. Sephiroth - zero.

Sephiroth tossed the man rather unceremoniously into a corner, walking over to the fire and sighed satisfied.

True, the cold didn't bother him like it did others, but he wasn't immune to the satisfaction of enjoying a warm fire after a long trip through snowfields.

He heard the girl enter as well, closing the door behind her and was a little surprised to find that she had carried with her more logs to throw on the fire.

Watching her a little awkwardly as she tossed the logs with the others, Sephiroth got the feeling it was something he should have thought of himself.

Sephiroth demonstratively stared into the dancing flames as she tended to the sleeping man, getting a blanket to put over him, and the sight made the former general annoyed for some reason.

"For crying out loud," he finally snapped, "you're soaked and frozen half to death, how about taking a little care of yourself? If you come down with a fever or something, I'm not letting you stay!"

The girl sighed, like a mother to an impatient child once again. "We're imposing on this man, Sephiroth. I put a Sleep spell on a innocent human being, and are now violating his home. The least I can do to make sure he doesn't get sick."

Sephiroth merely turned to stare into the flames again, ignoring her as she finished tending to the man.

"Hungry?" Her voice was suddenly beside him, and Sephiroth started slightly.

Gazing quickly over at her, he cleared his throat. "I do not require regular meals."

The girl smiled slightly, holding up a tin can with cheerful eyes. "That's not what I asked you, now is it?"

Hesitating, Sephiroth glanced down, absently placing a hand to his stomach as if asking it himself. Finally he glanced over at her, a little uncertain.

"I could eat...?" He'd always been taught to consume nutrition because it was necessary, and only when needed.

Nodding, the girl walked over to the kitchen bench and began to open one can, "today we have the delicacy of spaghetti to offer you, sir!"

Blinking, Sephiroth tilted his head, a little puzzled at her official tone. "Ok...?"

She gazed back at him with a dazzling smile, "it's either that or candy, I'm afraid!"

Feeling his stomach clench at the word, Sephiroth managed a faint smile, "maybe candy later?"

The girl turned back to struggling with the can, "agreed! Candy as dessert it is!"

Watching her huff and puff as she struggled, Sephiroth felt his smile widen slightly and he monitored her for a few minutes before sauntering over.

"Here," he took the can and the opener from her, "let me."

It was no effort for him to open the can, and he felt a little embarrassed at the impressed look she sent him.

"Well then," she took the can from him, "you undress and have a seat at the table."

Sephiroth blinked. "What?"

Surely he'd heard wrong...

Turning beet red, the girl stared at her feet, stuttering, "I only m-meant you s-should change out of y-your wet clothes...!"

Giving a slow nod, Sephiroth held his eyes on her a little while longer, "uh huh...?"

He then gave a slight smile before turning to do as she had suggested, letting his shoulder armour slide off him to place it by the fire to dry.

Aeris slowly stirred in the food over the open fire, closing her eyes hard to try erase the memory of the smirk on Sephiroths face.

Dear Planet, she hadn't meant it how it had sounded! She'd only been concerned that he'd get sick in those wet clothes, and she had made it sound like she wanted him to do a strip tease at the table!

Where was a hole in the ground when one needed it?!

And the worst part was the amusement in his eyes, Aeris wanted to hide at the memory.

What he musn't be thinking about her now?!

Turning to try to explain a final time, she froze at the sight that met her.

Sephiroth had shed his armour and his coat, leaving him standing in his black pants and boots by the fire. Firelight flickering over his flawless skin and silver hair radiating in the shadows as he tossed another log in.

Aeris clutched her spoon, forgetting to breathe at the sight, but then he tossed a lock of his hair absently back over his shoulder and she started to life.

Spinning around, she stared at the boiling food and blinked wide-eyed.

Nono! Bad thoughts!

Aeris drew a deep breath, mentally chanting to herself about good behavior, morals and keeping focus on her mission.

That meal was one of the hardest ordeals of her life!

Sephiroth was obviously oblivious to her blushing and stuttering, more interested in the food.

Aeris ate quietly, staring at her food as well, casting fleeting glances his way, only to see if he liked her food of course!

Later she had rinsed their plates, casting a second Sleep on the man before adjusting the blanket a little around him.

"Well, I am tired," Aeris chirped as she sat down on her bedroll a mere meter away from the bedroll Sephiroth was sitting on.

"We start up early, so you better get some sleep then," the silverhaired man mumbled, pulling out the Masamune to clean it again.

Slowly inching under her sheet, Aeris gazed curiously at him, "you really love that sword, don't you?"

Smirking, Sephiroth let a gentle hand move over the deadly blade, "she's loyal to me."

'She'? Aeris thought, smiling slightly, "it's beautiful!"

Sephiroth glanced over at her, his eerie eyes filled with a challenging malice, "she's yet to fail to kill when drawn against my enemies."

The memory of pain as that very blade pierced through her made Aeris pale and she quickly turned her eyes away, "I remember."

She heard him sigh, was there a touch of regret in that sound, and he put the sword away. "Get some sleep, little girl."

Aeris gazed harshly at him again, "I'm not a little girl! And my name is Aeris!"

Sephiroth seemed to consider it, then slowly sank down on the bedroll as he closed his eyes demonstratively, "get some sleep... Aeris."

It was a small victory, but a victory none the less!

Aeris closed her eyes and let herself relax, "goodnight Sephiroth..."

Failing to see the former general watching her with a strange look in his eyes...

AN:

_Phew, finally finished second chapter!_

_Huge thank you once againt to the reviwers, who inspires me to keep writing!_

_This chapter is to you reviwers!_

_Will hopefully have 3rd chapter up in not too long..._


	3. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!

3. **No good deed goes unpunished!**

Sephiroth stumbled through the darkness, clutching his head and tried to calm his heaving breath. His entire body was aching and his head was threatening to explode. Voices came from all around him, and he backed away unsteadily as flames shot up in front of him. Screams pierced the silence and the scent of burned flesh filled the air, making Sephiroth close his eyes tight. The ghosts of Nibelheim shrieked in agony, trying to tear at his clothes in vain, making the former general turn and run.

He didn't know where he was running, only that he had to get away.

Running until his legs wouldn't carry him anymore, Sephiroth fell to his knees. Leaning forward he placed his hands on the ground to keep himself from crumbling and panted for air.

The darkness was once again suffocatingly silent, and Sephiroth let his head hang while he caught his breath before slowly gazing up, starting slightly when he saw a pair of legs in front of him. Swallowing hard, he let his eyes wander up to see the face of the person in front of him. Pain shot through his head as he recognized the woman looking down at him and Sephiroth shivered. "I'm sorry," he whispered, shaking with fear and nausea. The young wutai-woman his lieutenant had killed in front of his eyes under the excuse that she was a spy, when Sephiroth knew the real reason had been her public refusal of the lieutenants advances. The lieutenant had driven his sword through her, killed her, and Sephiroth had let him off with a warning. There were lots of women in Wutai, but he had no worthy candidate to replace his lieutenant in his ranks.

The ghost slowly pointed towards Sephiroths hands, and the silverhaired man gazed down at them, but finding nothing out of the ordinary he gazed up at her again. His eyes widened at the blood staining the woman's stomach and he quickly looked down at his hands again.

Shaking his head, Sephiroth scrambled to his feet and held out his blood-soaked hands. "N-no... I didn't... It wasn't me! I couldn't...!"

He turned to run again, but froze as he was staring at an enemy soldier who'd pleaded for mercy in vain. Gazing wildly around, Sephiroth shivered helplessly as ghosts of his past materialized around him, blood-stained and accusing. He was surrounded. Flames shooting up around them, and screams grew louder by each second.

Falling to his knees again, Sephiroth closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands, his own scream muted by roaring flames and the ghosts agony.

Suddenly everything became quiet and the flames vanished along with the ghosts. Shivering and swallowing down sobs, Sephiroth slowly raised his head as he let his hands fall to his sides. Above him, high in the sky, Meteor was burning in the darkness like a flicker of hope.

Yes, Meteor was the answer. He knew mother had interfered with his nightmare again, saving him from the ghastly sights to show him his true purpose once more.

Getting up on trembling legs, Sephiroth gave a dazed nod. Yes, summon Meteor. Get the Black Materia. Don't let anyone interfere. Kill anyone who interferes!

He could almost feel mother's approval, the soothing touch on his skin, urging him to hurry.

Meteor would end it all. He would become a god! Summon Meteor and kill them all!

Sephiroth drew a sharp breath as he saw the young woman walking out of the darkness, automatically reaching for the Masamune and starting violently as he found it gone. Blinking with surprise he stared down at the empty holster. Quickly looking back, Sephiroth exhaled with pain and surprise as the girl was in front of him, her hand driving the Masamune through him.

"Is this what you want?" The girl asked him in a voice softened with regret and sadness, "does this solve everything...?"

Sephiroth twitched, grasping the offending wrist and tried to speak, but was unable to as he was struggling to breathe at all.

Reaching up to gently cup his face with her free hand, the girl leaned closer until all he could see was her amazingly green eyes.

"Or do you want... forgiveness, Sephiroth?" Aeris asked, her lips brushing over his as she whispered the words for his ears only.

Starting awake, Sephiroth sat up abruptly, heaving for air and not noticing the hand stroking his arm and the voice calling out his name.

Aeris had been torn out of her peaceful sleep when Sephiroth had begun tossing and turning, frowning as if he was in pain. She could only guess what was haunting his dreams, but she quietly moved over to his side and reached out to try and comfort him. Running a gentle hand over his damp forhead, Aeris tried talking to him in a soft voice and gasped startled when he suddenly sat up.

The silverhaired man was drawing deep gulps of air, trembling helplessly under the careful hand she let slide down his arm.

"Sephiroth...?" Aeris was almost afraid of startling him even more, but seeing him this distraught made her heart ache for him. "Sephiroth, it's ok... It was just a dream. You're safe now... Safe with me..."

He cast a quick glance over at her, his reptilian eyes piercing her accusingly before something reminding of iron control seeped into his system again and his shivering calmed.

There was a short silence, then Aeris tried a smile, "bad dream, huh?"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, then he turned to stare straight ahed. "We're leaving now."

Letting her hand rest on his slightly damp shoulder, Aeris felt his pain like her own and she knew she wanted to do something, anything, to ease his mind. But what? Sephiroth was not someone who let people close to him, certainly not to pour his misery out for other ears beside his own to hear.

Aeris sighed, unknowingly letting her hand move up to stroke his head like calming a child, and she couldn't help but to notice how he tensed under the gesture. Frowning curiously, she let her hand slide through his hair and let her touch become more dwelling and affectionate. Like she suspected, Sephiroth tensed even worse.

Had no one touched him without intending to hurt him or take advantage of him?

Reaching out for the brush on her nigh table, Aeris then crawled over to get into a comfortable sitting position behind Sephiroth and carefully gathered his long hair in her hand before letting the brush slide though it.

Slowly glaring back at her, Sephiroth was tense enough to explode through the ceiling, "and what do you think you're doing...?" His voice deadly sharp, but also confused.

Aeris gave him a dazzling smile, "isn't it obvious? I'm brushing you hair."

She returned to her brushing, humming softly as she let him stare and process what was happening. An entire minute passed before he slowly turned his head back to stare straight ahed, shoulders relaxing slightly.

"No braid, or I swear I'll..." Sephiroth growled, not sure why he allowed her silly whim.

Giggling, Aeris tilted her head as she admired the silver hair and it's silkiness, "are you sure...? I mean... such long, beautiful hair just begging to..."

Her voice trailed off in a laugh as he sent her a withering look, and Aeris motioned for him to relax, "fine! No braid, I promise!"

It was almost with awe that she watched his silver hair run between her fingers, and after a while feeling his muscles relax and his breathing turned peaceful. This big, misguided warrior was not the cold beast so many saw him as, but a result of humanity's passion for cruelty. Knowing nothing but pain and death, he lashed back at the world that had hurt him and was drowning in his own darkness.

But time was running out... would she reach him before it was too late?

Sephiroth had allowed her to brush his hair for some time, he'd even let her rest her cheek on his shoulder blade as she made no move to do or say anything else. The feeling had been... nice. A comforting feeling and it had soothed his racing heart. But then a restlessness started to spread inside him and something was pulling at him to get up, get moving and reach some place...

Mother was calling him.

So, now they were trudging through the snow again towards what was known as Gaea's Cliff and Sephiroth could feel it in his blood that they were getting closer. Almost there now. And the puppet was following. Everything was falling into place! A jab of pain shot through him, and he knew his body wouldn't last more than a few days more. It didn't matter. He was almost there...

Sephiroth had to smile slightly at the disbelief in in the girls eyes as she stood at the beginning of the steep cliff.

"We're... climbing up there...?" Aeris sounded doubtful, "all the way... up there...?"

He reached out and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him despite her startled sound.

"Climbing takes too long," he declared with a smirk, feeling his powers stirring in his blood, the gift from mother.

Sephiroth didn't wait long enough for the girl to regain her senses and begin fighting against him, but kicked off with all his might, smirking even wider as Aeris pressed her face to his chest and clutched him hard in fear. They were almost flying...

He landed securely on the slippery ice-lane and was a little surprised to find the girl still clinging to him. And she was shivering, he noticed with an uncertain feeling. Sephiroth cleared his throat, "we're here.."

It still lasted a few heartbeats longer before she slowly dared to lean slightly back and open her eyes, but her hands remained clutching his coat. "Y-you weren't going to drop me, were you? I held on so hard, but..."

Sephiroth swallowed hard as he gazed down at her fragile form and a strange feeling spread in his chest. "I wasn't going to drop you... You're safe in my arms..."

He managed a weak smile to return hers, then stepped away, "we have to continue now..."

Sephiroth looked a little puzzled as she grasped his right hand and gazed nervously around, but gave another weak smile, "that's my sword-arm. I need that, you know." Aeris cast a quick glance at his hand, then released him only to dart over on his left side and take his other hand.

This was ridiculous, some voice declared at the back of Sephiroths mind. She had been on the battlefield before, and was too grown to be holding his hand! But... he remained silent and lead her on, trying to ignore the feeling of her little hand in his.

They made their way into the ice cave, the walls showing the reflection of the unlikely couple to Aeris amusement, but a distant sound had caught Sephiroths attention. Feeling the cave's guardian long before it showed itself, Sephiroth didn't flinch at all as Schizo stepped forward and roared it's challenge at them.

Aeris clutched his hand so hard it nearly hurt, but made no sign to flee and it surprised him a little. The girl obviously had more courage than what he'd given her credit for. The fire-breathing head of the monster hissed and snaked it's way towards them, while the ice-breathing head raised itself high and glared at them.

Slowly pulling out the Masamune, Sephiroth smirked as the fire-breathing head recoiled with a startled snarl. Yes, he thought, you know this sword and it's power.

The monster hissed furiously with both heads, but backed away and stepped enough to the side for the two humans to pass.

Sephiroth replaced the Masamune, tugging Aeris along. "Let's go."

Stumbling along, the girl was staring wide-eyed from him to the monster, "w-what just happened...?"

Sephiroth sent her a cold look, "it recognized it's superior." He didn't like the fear he saw in her eyes, and turned to stalk off as he dragged her along.

Aeris was just about running to keep up with Sephiroths pace when a sound caught her attention, and she abruptly dug her heels in to bring them to a halt.

The silverhaired man turned to glare at her, "now what?!"

Blinking with surprise, Aeris could hardly believe what she was seeing, but as they didn't disappear when she closed her eyes and reopened them again it was no doubt the chocobos standing in the opening of a cave were real!

"What are they doing in here?" Aeris knew very well there were chocobos living in the icy country, but surely there was nothing for them to eat inside the mountain? How had they gotten themselves in there? She pulled free of Sephiroths grip and took a step towards the huge birds, her heart sinking as she noticed their scruffy shape. "They look miserable..."

"Why should we be the only ones," Sephiroth sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Come on. We're continuing. Now!"

Aeris sent him a harsh look, "we can't just leave them here!"

The former general got an annoyed look, eyes narrowing, "why not? It'll give the two-headed beast something to eat!"

Gasping, Aeris had forgotten about the monster. No wonder the chocobos were in such a bad shape, they didn't dare to approach the exit with that predator on the loose. It was probably that thing that had chased them into the cave in the first place. "We have to help them!"

Sephiroth eyed her doubtfully, "we?"

Moving over to grasp his arm, Aeris knew she had to make him understand if she were to have any chance of saving Sephiroth at all. "They're defenseless, Sephiroth! They wont stand a chance! If that monster doesn't kill them, they'll starve to death!"

He made a weak effort to shake off her hand in vain, "so? They're only birds!"

Aeris held his eyes intensely, "they're defenseless. We have to help them!"

A second passed as they were staring a silent battle, then Sephiroth finally rolled his eyes with a resigned groan, "fine!"

Giving a silent cheer, Aeris threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, even though she knew he only agreed to shut her up and it would be over faster than if he were to argue against her.

She felt his instinctive tenseness, his awkward petting on her shoulders and gave him a final squeeze before releasing him. "Now, you can control that monster when we have to pass it with the chocobos?"

Sephiroth shrugged, looking a little embarrassed, "sure." A vile look and a threatening pull of the Masamune would keep the beast at a distance. "But these are wild chocobos, you know. Without greens, we wont be able to catch them!"

Giggling, Aeris took his hand again and pulled his reluctant form along, "relax! I know how to handle chocobos!"

The big birds warked suspiciously as they came closer, and Aeris released Sephiroth to hold out a hand in a friendly gesture. "It's okay... We're here to help you..."

A sharp look at Sephiroth managed to tweak a; "Yeah... sure..." from him, and Aeris turned back to the chocobos.

Like before, Aeris felt the unspoken bond between her and any living creature on the planet hum slightly and the birds lowered their nervously raised heads. "That's it... Calm down... Everything is going to be okay now... That thing wont be able to hurt you. Me and Sephiroth is gonna make sure you get your freedom again. How does that sound?"

The reply was a cheerful wark as one of the birds lowered it's head enough for her to pet it, and she smiled softly as it closed it eyes in unspoken trust.

Smiling happily, Aeris glanced back at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth was busy eyeing the second chocobo as warily as it was eyeing him. Mutual suspicion with mutual distaste.

Sephiroth could only remember liking one chocobo through his entire life. His first chocobo. The pitch-black chocobo he'd named Raven. The bird that had died in battle, crashing beneath him with a sword jammed into it's feathery chest. No chocobo had ever been like that one. And this filthy, thin and mangy chocobo was staring at him like he was some nasty bug. Damn birdbrain!

The girl was now watching him expectantly, and Sephiroth cleared his throat, "yes, nice. Lovely. Let's just get this over with!"

Aeris motioned for him to lead the way, and he was about to stalk back to the opening when she pointed meaningfully at the chocobo still glaring at him.

Sephiroth made a faint movement with his hand, "well, bird? Heel!" It worked on dogs, but by the narrow look the chocobo sent him, Sephiroth figured it wasn't as affective with birds. He raised his eyebrows at Aeris, showing he'd tried and the imbecile animal didn't want to be saved!

The girl glared.

Sephiroth shifted restlessly, then stalked over to the damn bird. "Fine!"

He reached out to grab a hold of the feathery neck, and his quick reflexes saved him from the beak that suddenly snapped after him.

"Hey!" Sephiroth jumped a step back, fuming with anger. "You ungrateful choco-mcnugget!" His hand landed on the Masamune when Aeris cried out and suddenly was by his side, her hands over his.

"The damn thing tried to bite me!" Sephiroth declared angrily, and the chocobo warked satisfied.

The girl prevented him from drawing the Masamune, quickly stroking his arm reassuringly. "I'll lead the chocobos. You follow and make sure the monster doesn't eat us. Sounds good?"

Glaring murderously at the chocobo, Sephiroth nodded tensely, "just get that damn thing away from me!"

Aeris hurried back to the chocobos and put them in motion, hoping to get them as far away from the fuming warrior as possible, and Sephiroth drew a deep breath while closing his eyes. A stupid birdbrain wasn't going to get to him! It was not worth it!

That was when he felt a insane weight stepping on his foot and Sephiroth's shot open to see the chocobo moving pass him; it's clawed leg strategically placed over his. He didn't move as the bird walked on, two entire seconds passed, then the pain reached his brain and he screamed more in fury than agony.

"That's it!" Sephiroth declared in rage, taking off in a running chase, "I'm gonna kill it!"

Starting, Aeris sent the birds fleeing with a slap on their sides as she noticed even the two-headed monster lurking behind them fled at the sound of Sephiroths anger as well.

The silverhaired man heaved for air as he came to a halt in the exit, knowing he had no chance of catching up with the culprit.

He didn't even notice her walking up beside him, sneaking her arms around his left arm, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Look at them..." she sighed dreamily, "isn't that a beautiful sight?"

Sephiroth grumbled, watching the animals race through the snow with a wish for them to fall and break their scrawny necks. "Sure is, as long as they keep doing that; Running the hell away from me!"

He heard her laugh softly against his arm, "meanie! He was only trying to protect himself. You scared him."

Scoffing, Sephiroth saw the chocobos disappear, jumping easily from plateau to plateau until they were gone. "I scare everyone."

"Not me," Aeris declared gently, and he sent her a dry look.

Releasing him, she waved away his words, "alright, sometimes. But it's getting further and further between each time!"

Sephiroth watched her walk inside again, before quickly gathering himself and following to make sure she didn't become monster lunch.

Why did it make him happy hear she didn't fear him? She should fear him! He wanted everyone to fear him! The power mother would grant him was to make them all fear him! ...but it was nice to know there was one who didn't hate him for not being human...

They had wandered through icy passages for what seemed an eternity, but at least Sephiroth didn't tell her to stop her humming this time. Instead he seemed to listen and secretly enjoy the melodic sounds, even if he'd probably die before admitting it. Such a strange man, Aeris mused, as dark and terrifying as her worst nightmares. Yet, filled with raw vulnerability and with a desperate need to belong. The ancients had told her, but it was only now Aeris had come to realise what they had meant when they spoke of the Crisis from the sky. Jenova was not a conscious being as Aeris had thought all along, but a virus. Capable of infecting and with it's only purpose to destroy. A virus. Infesting hosts, and destroying everything in it's greed. Maybe saying it wasn't conscious would be wrong, but it had no mind of it's own capable of hate or mercy. Jenova didn't want to destroy this planet as well because it hated it. No, Jenova wanted to destroy everything because that was simply what Jenova did.

Aeris glanced over at Sephiroth, feeling once again the pain at what he'd gone through. Painful sympathy for what had been done to him, and what he never had.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw the exit approach, and they soon stood in front of yet another steep hill.

"Oh no..." Aeris breathed in a whimper, and felt Sephiroths grin.

He held out a hand towards her, "I promised I wouldn't drop you."

The weirdest thing happened as she looked into his eerie eyes; Aeris realised she trusted him. When it came to this, she trusted him.

Even Sephiroth got a slightly surprised look when she accepted his hand, but he gently pulled her closer and let his arm go around her waist.

Closing her eyes and hiding her face to his chests, Aeris felt him gather himself, then they sprung into the air and flew up through the coldness.

Their flight ended faster this time, but he landed just as safely and she slowly withdrew from his embrace only to gasp at the sight that met her.

They were standing on the edge of a huge crater. The crater she'd only dreamed about in her nightmares. The entrance to Jenova.

Sephiroth's eyes were hazed and he smiled absently at the sight, "you recognize it, right?"

She could only nod, fearing her voice wouldn't carry her. The sight was just too horrible to stay unaffected. This enormous gash in the planet.s surface, the scar that told of the planets struggle to survive.

Aeris was almost out of time...

She quickly gazed up at Sephiroth to say something, anything, that would make him reconsider what he was doing, but before she could open her mouth he stepped away from her while clutching his head with a pained groan.

"Sephiroth?" Aeris reached out and gently took a hold of his face, fighting against panic, "what's wrong?"

He trembled like a newborn colt, breathing strained, and Aeris was loosing her fight against the panic. "Sephiroth?!"

"M-mother is calling..." The silverhaired man managed to grit out, "and this body is failing me..."

Frowning confused, Aeris helped him sink to his knees as he swayed dangerously, "I don't understand... Failing?" The thought of Jenova being able to manipulate his mind so easily scared her beyond reason.

Sephiroth managed a sneering laugh tainted with pain, "yes, failing. This body is dying."

Absently stroking his hair away from his face, Aeris made him look at her, "d-dying?! What a-are you talking about? You're dying?! Why?!"

The former general seemed to be calming slightly, twitching from time to time. "Five years ago... I died... That puny puppet caught me by surprise and... killed me. I'm only here because of mother. She gives me the power to move, even when my body is frozen in ice as well as time."

His words made Aeris go numb, her fear of Jenova increasing by each word. "Then... what am I touching now...?"

Eerie eyes finally met hers, angry and challenging. "Every clone made of my body is infused with mothers cells as well. It hardly takes an effort for me to take over such a form. Only... this one seems to be failing me faster than I thought..."

Silence followed his words, and Aeris turned to stare absently into the crater, her calming hands having halted on his shoulders. It was even worse than she thought... even worse than what she had feared...

Maybe it was too late...

Sephiroth saw his words frighten her, and told himself it was for the best. She had been dreaming, hadn't she? Dreaming he would see the light and abandon his and mothers great plan. That would never happen!

It didn't hurt to see her turn away, nor feeling her withdraw from the news of his inhumanity... No, dammit, it didn't hurt!

He'd managed on his own his entire life, this wouldn't even be a challenge!

Sephiroth started slightly as she took his hand and found Aeris smiling weakly to him, "it's late, Sephiroth. If you're as drained as this, we should rest for the night."

It made no sense! Nothing that girl did made sense!

"We should at least find shelter for the wind," Sephiroth found himself mumbling, letting her help him up on his feet again.

Swaying as he found his balance, Sephiroth saw something new in the girl's eyes. Determination. Like she had set her mind to something.

Frowning, he took a gentle, but firm, hold of her chin, "what's going on inside that head of yours now? More chocobos to rescue?"

Aeris awarded him with a smile, "no... this time I intend to rescue someone even more important, even if he doesn't value his own life."

With that she carefully began to make her way down to a ledge, "come on... or do you need a supporting hand? It's pretty steep here..."

Blinking, Sephiroth started back into life and shook his head. "No, uhm, that's... alright. I'm fine." He forced away the restlessness of mothers calling, his eyes locked on her slender form fighting her way down the hill.

She couldn't mean... him?

Forcing his body to move, Sephiroth followed her trail downwards, his mind in utter confusion. It did not make no sense what so ever!

She'd seen his cruelty, even felt it, and heard what he had done, still she wanted to try and save him in vain?!

A painful jab shot through him, and he knew she was the biggest threat to mothers plan. She was trying to trick him! Fool him into betraying mother!

Kill her!

The thought came from out of nowhere and he lost balance, falling rather abruptly on his behind as he clutched his aching head while shutting his eyes tight.

KILL HER!

Pain so strong it made him nauseous raged through him, making him convulse helplessly as he fought back the need to throw up.

KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER!

The thought rammed into him again and again, like a tightly clutched fist repeatedly hitting a broken leg, and Sephiroth was one second from his break-down when gentle hands wrapped around him, and carefully pulled him close, making the storm inside his head quiet.

A soft humming was heard as he wearily rested his head against the warm form, absently listening to calming heartbeats as one hand stroke over his hair reassuringly while the other held him protectively.

He was so tired...

AN:

_Took some time to finish this one, and it turned out a little more dramatic than what I had planned..._

_Still, I could never have managed this without all you wonderful reviewers! Thanks for every word you've written, and I treasure every one! You're my inspiration!_


	4. Lay Your Head Where My Heart Used To Be

**4. Lay your head where my heart used to be**

It was like rising for a never-ending darkness, but Sephiroth slowly became aware of his surroundings and his memory came back to him. He'd had another collapse, only this time he did not wake up alone as usual. He didn't have to open his eyes to know who's lap he was resting his head on, nor ask who's hands were stroking his hair comfortingly. Aeris.

Sephiroth made a drowsy scan of his condition and found himself tired, but otherwise unharmed. She'd stopped it in time. It was bothering him that thought; Aeris had stopped the pain and confusion. How was that possible? Why had she eased his suffering? Slowly, Sephiroth was returning to consciousness and he also became aware of how she was still humming. Her voice was impossibly beautiful. Legends would have it there were once female witches capable of soothing wild beasts with their songs, and Sephiroth had never believed them... until now. Her voice made all the chaos inside his head calm, and put the pain in his soul to rest. Aeris was his most dangerous opponent, and he was just beginning to understand why...

Opening his eyes, Sephiroth gazed emptily into the air, "how long have I been out?"

Aeris didn't seem startled by his sudden awakening at all, "not sure. Hours. It's night now."

She'd made a small fire, and Sephiroth realised that was why he wasn't cold. The fire and her closeness. "You could have escaped..."

He could almost feel her resigned smile as her hand once again trailed through his hair, making him unconsciously lean against the touch. "Escaped to where, Sephiroth? There is no place I can go where Meteor wont reach me. But I stayed because I wanted to. I stayed to be here with you. Like it or not, you need me and my help."

Something told him she wasn't talking about her helping him to summon Meteor and destroy the world.

Sephiroth sat up with a groan, brushing away her supporting hand. He didn't need her! ...Did he?

"Oh," he heard Aeris gasp, and quickly gazed over at her.

"Look at that," she whispered in awe, pointing up at the sky and he slowly raised his eyes.

Beautiful colours were dancing over the star-lit sky, unlike anything he'd ever seen.

"Northern Light," the former general mumbled absently, remembering he'd read about them once.

Aeris jumped to her feet, slowly swirling around as she gazed up at the sky, "it's beautiful!"

Sephiroth didn't reply, hanging his head and rubbing his face tiredly. He didn't care. Once he and mother had succeeded with their plan, that light would disappear too! Sephiroth felt like destroying everything beautiful. All beauty must die, he thought tensely, hoping to convince himself with his own harshness.

Still, he had to look over when he heard Aeris singing happily as she slowly walked along the narrow slope up to the edge of the crater. She appeared completely lost in the colour display spread over the heaven like a multi-coloured veil.

Sephiroth watched her for a little while, then something made him get up and follow.

He caught up with her as she swirled in slow circles on the snowy ground on the crater edge, and Sephiroth crossed his arms with a slight smirk. "You're going to fall, and I'm not jumping after you..."

Aeris giggled and poked her tongue at him, swirling off again, "yes, you would!"

Sephiroth failed to fight off a smile, "no, I wouldn't!"

Aeris raised a challenging eyebrow as she halted her pirouettes, and took a step towards the edge.

Sephiroth drew a sharp breath, taking a step towards her, "keep messing around like this, and I'll push you over that edge myself!"

She took another step, and Sephiroth wasn't even aware of himself moving until his hands were tightly grasping her upper arms. "I said; stop messing around!"

Her green eyes sparkled with the reflection of the Northern Light as she gazed up at him, smiling, "dance with me?"

Aeris was certain she could have knocked over the former general with a feather as she asked him the simple question. He looked like she'd asked him to run around naked in a town square.

"What?" He finally asked, his long fingers still digging into her arms.

Aeris managed a somewhat shrugging motion, "dance with me."

The silver haired man glanced around, almost like looking for hidden cameras, "here?"

Nodding like one would to a child, Aeris smiled patiently, "yes, here! I feel like dancing!"

Sephiroth shifted uneasily, obviously still not sure if she was serious or not, "but..."

Sighing, she took one hand in hers and placed his other around her waist, "do you know how to dance?" She wasn't too sure if dancing skills were one of the many things you were taught when you were training to be a skilled murderer.

Looking a little uneasy, Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Yeah, uhm, of course I do! But... we're in the middle of nowhere! And there is no music!"

Aeris tugged him along, "of course there is music! Can't you hear it? We're in a hall filled with people, and they're all watching us! They want to know if we're going to win the contest! If we're really as good as the rumor says!"

By now Sephiroth was staring at her like she'd grown a couple of extra heads, and a chocobo tail.

Giggling, Aeris maneuvered him into a gentle turn, "what? You've never imagined things before?"

Sephiroth almost stumbled and pulled himself together, "I... never... It's not something I... No, I guess I haven't."

Aeris nodded and lead him into a waltz, "very well. I'll show you. Just play along, ok?"

Play along? He looked puzzled at those words, almost as if the concept of playing was as foreign to him as flying was to a turtle, but he gave a weak nod.

Humming softly at a song, Aeris winked at him and was relieved to see the faint smile on Sephiroths face. She'd gotten him curious!

The first few turns, he still seemed a little hesitating, so she leaned up to whisper; "I bet every girl here is jealous of me!"

Laughing silently, Sephiroth shook his head, "this is too weird..."

Aeris raised an eyebrow, "you do not mean to tell me, sir, that you do not take this dancing contest serious?"

The former general tried to put on a straight face, "I'm trying, ok?" His steps were already lighter, and she realised he was doing the leading now.

With a victorious smile, Aeris relaxed in his arms, "and you're looking so handsome in your parade uniform!"

She could almost envision the hall they were dancing, the roof was the colour of the dancing Northern Light, and eyes were locked on them in awe and envy.

Sephiroth cleared his throat embarrassed, "yeah, well, the judges are about to take points from us as the female part of the duo is unable to keep her mouth shut..."

Gasping softly with offence, Aeris slapped his shoulder lightly, "that's the last compliment you'll ever get from me, Mr General!"

She laughed as he spun them around, gazing up at the swirling lights covering the sky, and wondered if Sephiroth had noticed she wasn't humming anymore. It was the very planet that sang the song they were dancing to.

Aeris realised he had to hear it as well, feeling how he moved perfectly to notes only she had heard earlier, and her heart jumped with hope. If he was capable of hearing the planets voice, then his soul wasn't completely lost!

That was when she noticed they had stopped, and Sephiroth was gazing a little curiously at her. Oh... she'd obviously been staring, hadn't she?

She was about to say something, but the look in his eyes made her unable to remember what it was. They had stopped moving at all, merely standing in the snow with colours dancing over the sky above them and the planet's song alive in the air around them as their eyes were locked together. It was... perfect.

Slowly, Aeris lifted her hand to touch his skin, feel his jawline under her fingertips, and her heart beat even faster as Sephiroth closed his eyes at the caress.

Maybe it was everything that had happened, along with the magic in the air, that made Aeris lean closer and let her hand slide behind his neck. "Sephiroth...?"

The silver haired man gazed at her with a slightly dazed look in his eyes, and she could feel his heart beating. "I think we won," he whispered, and all Aeris could do was nod. She numbly realised she'd fallen into her own trap. By following Sephiroth, she had hoped to gain his trust and thaw his heart to the beauty of the world, but she'd failed to see the danger of him seeping into her own heart. And now she couldn't turn away from him, even if she had wanted to...

Sephiroth wasn't sure what was happening, but had she really been this beautiful all along? Or had she put him under some spell?

It would certainly explain the strange things happening inside him. Why was his heart racing? Why did his blood warm up? Why did he feel nervous? He'd killed thousands of soldiers, but this little girl made him nervous? Sephiroth shivered, keenly aware of how close against him she was now. How the scent of flowers rose from her to sedate his worried mind. One of her small hands were behind his neck, the other resting over his heart. He'd been accused of not having a heart for so long, Sephiroth had almost begun to believe it himself, but he felt it's presence under her touch. He hadn't felt this much in years...!

A loud growl cut through the air, and they both started.

Then Aeris began to giggle, while Sephiroth squinted down at his guilty stomach. Surely not?!

"Hungry, Sephiroth?" Aeris asked as she tried to contain her laughter, and Sephiroth felt his face grow warm.

"Obviously," he muttered, unaware of letting Aeris see him blush for the first time in his life. He'd never needed food on a regular basis, why did his stomach have to start demanding nutrition at that exact moment?!

Taking his hand, Aeris pulled him along as she cheerfully scolded him for not saying something earlier!

Food hadn't exactly been on his mind, Sephiroth sulked mentally, dragging his feet as he followed her back to their camp. Glancing up, he noticed the Northern Light was disappearing and the air had grown silent as well. It shouldn't surprise him, as Sephiroth knew it had been too good to be true. Still, a tug on his arm made him glance over and see Aeris smile up at him and he realised it might not be the end of what could have happened up there at all. He still had some time before becoming a god... Sephiroth shook away the uneasy thoughts, focusing on the chattering girl beside him. He didn't want to think about the future. Nor the past. Sephiroth just wanted to savour the presence.

He smiled at her fuzzing over him, enjoyed the food and was amazed when she drew a blanket around them both while curling up beside him.

His heart broke as she leaned her head against his chest.

The fire danced in the darkness as Sephiroth gazed emptily into it, arms absently around Aeris and told himself it was because of the cold.

But he was sorry when the morning came, and he had to wake her.

They continued along the rocky path they had reached, and he felt their presence long before they appeared.

Aeris squeaked and grasped Sephiroths arm as the black-hooded figures appeared and came towards them. "W-what are they?!"

Sephiroth smirked, eyeing them to find the strongest, "they're puppets."

He felt her gaze confused up at him, "puppets...?"

Pulling out the Black Materia, Sephiroth then glanced over as Aeris took a step away from him. "You feel it's power too, don't you?"

There was a harsh glimpse in her eyes, and Aeris gazed back at the approaching creatures, "I feel the evil radiating from it."

Sephiroth frowned, then turned back to the others as well. "Ah," he mumbled softly, walking towards them, "there you are."

Aeris hesitated, then he heard her follow him. Strange. Even as she was openly disapproving of his actions, she still followed. Still hoped.

Halting in front of one black-hooded man, Sephiroth held out the Black Materia. "I will give this to you. You know what to do, and I'll be expecting it back."

The man nodded deeply, groveling, "yes, master!"

Sephiroth then walked pass them, feeling himself pulled towards his destination even stronger. The clone would be powerful enough to deal with the puppet and his friends once it was installed with the Black Materia. Sephiroth was a little surprised that the little blonde puppet was strong enough to have followed him this far, but this would be the end of him! He glanced over at Aeris, noticing how pale she was, and wondered if she knew her friends had just died...

Aeris had fallen silent ever since Sephiroth had pulled out the Black Materia, a nasty reminder of what was really happening. Who Sephiroth really was.

No, Aeris shook her head, that was wrong. Sephiroth had shown he could be saved. He still had a soul. But it would be even more difficult than what she had originally feared.

She was so lost in thought that Aeris didn't notice Sephiroth stopping, and could only scream as a wind came out of nowhere. It was so strong it tore her along, wanting to toss her from the narrow path and into a dark death.

Then a hand locked around her wrist, and Aeris managed to glance up to see Sephiroth having jammed the Masamune in the ground and held one hand on it, with his other around her wrist.

"Dammit, Aeris," he exclaimed through the storm, "I told you to stop!"

Barely able to breathe in the strong wind, Aeris closed her watering eyes hard. She hadn't heard him, and now she was going to die. It had all been in vain!

"No, you're NOT going to die," Aeris heard Sephiroth growl tensely, feeling herself being pulled against the wind; back into safety.

Inch by inch, and panicked heartbeat by panicked heartbeat, Aeris then felt a strong arm wrap around her, and Sephiroth sprang into safety.

"Idiot!" Sephiroth sneered as they landed on a safe distance from the wind, "what the hell were you thinking?! Do you want to die again?! Are you that desperate to escape?!"

Aeris was trembling, but realised his harsh words weren't spawned by malice as he was holding her firmly against him, his heart thundering in his chest. He... he'd been afraid. Afraid that she would die.

His arms were wrapped so tightly around her it was almost suffocating, but it only made her wrap her own arms around him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't hear you..."

Sephiroth snorted angrily, "well, you'd better start listening or you wont last long here!" He then cleared his throat and released her to move away, "there are several such wind-traps along this path. Keep close, ok?"

Aeris started, not wanting to experience that frightening feeling of being tossed off her feet like a rag-doll again, and latched onto his left arm.

He sent her an undecided look, then sighed and gave a faint smile.

Aeris returned his smile, and they continued with Sephiroth guiding them safely through the wind-traps.

She noticed he got more restless by each step they came closer, Sephiroths eyes were almost glowing with impatience, and she wondered what would meet them at the end.

They had climbed down a steep hill, and they were standing outside a cave when Sephiroth grasped his head with a pained groan.

Reaching out, Aeris managed to support him just in time before he crashed to his knees. "Sephiroth! Are you ok?" It scared her to see him like this, like he was loosing control.

"A-almost there," Sephiroth managed to gasp, swaying as he closed his eyes hard. "In... there..."

Aeris gazed nervously at the dark, ominous cave. "In there...? A-are you sure? I'm positive we can find a nice, much brighter cave..."

But he shook his head, and Aeris swallowed hard as he then tilted his head to whisper in her ear, "help me..." His lips brushing by her skin, and his voice smooth as warm silk with pain.

"Alright," she relented, and let him lean on her as she guided him towards the black entrance.

Sephiroth felt the body betraying him, felt the life in it seeping away, while random thoughts were bombarding his brain. Pain. It was becoming steadily harder to breathe, but he forced himself to stay conscious as he could feel his goal comming closer by each agonized step. She was helping him. This was her chance to kill him, yet she did not take advantage of his weakness and aided him instead. He was going to make it, but only because of a frail little girl that danced under the Northern Lights and made the planet sing. Sephiroth smiled.

He was almost lost in darkness when he heard Aeris gasp, and forced himself to open his eyes.

Sephiroth saw her stare in disbelief up at the ceiling, and he slowly raised his gaze as well, but the sight made him smile.

"Well, hello there, handsome," he whispered in a tired voice, looking at his frozen body inside the materia crystal.

Aeris gazed quickly over at him, "t-that's..."

Nodding, Sephiroth gave her a faint smile, "that's me." His legs gave in, and he nearly tore the girl along, but barely managed to keep from falling. "I think... I need to sit down..."

He let her help him over to a wall, then sank down with a sigh. "Made it... We're finally here..."

It was strange to see his own form, frozen in time, and not to mention the fact that half of him was missing.

Sephiroth cut a face, not entirely comfortable with the sight.

Aeris got up and walked out into the center of the room, gazing up the form inside the crystal. "That's... the real Sephiroth..." She glanced over at him, "and you're him?"

Nodding, Sephiroth gazed up as well, "that's me."

Aeris gazed from one to the other, "so... you're conscious? Can you... feel anything?"

Sephiroth chuckled tiredly, "I'm conscious, yes. I've been for years, but I've been unable to do anything as long as mother has been dormant." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, "I guess I do owe Hojo some thanks... I'll remember that when I'm ripping out his entrails..."

Aeris flinched, but kept calm. "So..." She walked over and kneeled down beside him, "now what...?"

Sephiroth sighed, "now... we wait." He reached out and found her hand, letting his fingers play over her soft skin. "I need the Black Materia..."

The clones should be there soon...

Then the room shook as something flickered behind the walls of ice, and Aeris started violently. "T-that's... "

Taking her hand in his, braiding their fingers, Sephiroth gave a faint, mean smile, "yes... Weapon is stirring... They feel my presence... Your precious planet wouldn't hesitate to unleash them on this world for the sins of one man..."

He felt the hate radiate from the monsters lurking in the ice, but it only made him smile. They felt threatened, because they knew he would win.

A jab in his chest made Sephiroth twitch and gasp for air, and he realised he was almost out of time.

"Sephiroth!" Warm hands were cupping his face, and he realised he'd obviously lost consciousness for a little while.

Forcing his eyes open, Sephiroth smiled as Aeris face swam into focus, "I'm still here... but I'm surprised you are..."

She smiled as well, tears glittering in her eyes, "I told you I wouldn't run! A-are you ok...?"

Drawing a strained breath, Sephiroth glanced up at the form inside the crystal, "I told you... this body is dying... I need the Black Materia..."

He motioned for her to help him sit up, and as she did he felt someone's presence approach the cave.

Sephiroth took a hold of her arm, "come on. We gotta take cover for a little while..."

She looked a little puzzled, but didn't object as he pulled her along as he stumbled over to a wall, and cast an ice3 spell to create a false wall of ice to cover them from the eyes of the intruders.

Wrapping an arm around her, Sephiroth held Aeris close, her back against his chest. "Don't make a sound. Understand?"

Aeris almost held her breath as she saw people entering, instantly recognizing several of them.

The young man leading them was without a doubt Rufus ShinRa, and the people with him were that Scarlet-woman followed by the spindly form of Hojo.

Aeris felt Sephiroth tense at the sight of the so-called scientist, and she let her hand slide up to cover his in a comforting gesture.

A sigh of gratitude brushed against her neck.

Scarlet was glancing around, eyes bright with awe, "Wow!! That's amazing! It's all Materia!!"

Rufus stepped up beside her, and Aeris recognized the warm look the blonde woman was sending the young man.

"The outside is rich with Mako energy. The inside is a treasure grove of Materia. This truly is the Promised Land," Rufus said with a smirk, obviously planning on how to spend his riches already. Aeris' eyes narrowed.

Hojo huffed with disgust, eyeing his surroundings with little interest, "There is no such thing as the Promised Land. It's a legend... an old wives tale ...it's utterly ridiculous."

"Everything's as I imagined it to be. Isn't it splendid?" Rufus declared with a hint of boyish enthusiasm, then glanced drily over at Hojo, "It is that kind of dullness that makes you a second-rate scientist."

Aeris fought back a giggle at the congested look on Hojo's face at those words, and she could even feel Sephiroth smiling.

Then the ground shook again as the growl was heard, a figure flickering behind the ice walls again.

Rufus started, staring at the wall, "what's happening?"

"It's coming from within' the wall! Something's in there! It's moving!" Scarlet exclaimed, taking a step away.

Hojo laughed silently, clearly not frightened at all; " Weapon... Then it really does exist... I didn't believe in it."

Rufus glanced sharply over at him, "What does this mean?"

" ...Weapon. Monsters created by the Planet. It appears when the Planet is in danger, reducing everything to nothingness. That's what was stated in

Professor Gast's report," Hojo muttered superiorly.

Rufus' eyes narrowed, "I never saw that report... Where is it?"

Hojo patted his coat, "Here, right here."

"You keep a lot of things to yourself," Rufus said in a dangerously silent voice.

At that moment a figure flickered behind the wall beside where Aeris and Sephiroth was, and she almost screamed, but Sephiroth hugged her closer in a combined gesture of a warning and a comforting hug.

"They wont do us anything," he whispered in her ear, barely audible, and she managed a weak nod.

Then Cloud appeared out of nowhere, and Aeris went numb. Oh no... Not him... She couldn't face him... not now... not ever...

She wanted to close her eyes, wanted to hide forever... but was unable to look away.

Then the others appeared as well... Tifa... Barret... Everyone...

Aeris was unaware of the tears trailing down her cheeks, falling to land on Sephiroths wrist...

She could only watch as Cloud began to act strange, as she knew Sephiroth would not let her go to him. And if she was allowed, would she be able to?

Biting her lower lip, Aeris saw the blond man levitate towards the ceiling, and numbly realised the crystal containing Sephiroths real body was gone.

She heard them talk, but their voices made no sense to her as her eyes were locked on Cloud. He looked so troubled. Her heart was bleeding.

Then Cloud called out for Sephiroth and the crystal came crashing into vision, and Aeris sorrow turned to fear as she saw Cloud give the Black Materia to the frozen form of his nemesis.

The ground began to shake, Weapons were screaming in anger, and the Highwind roared into the sky to flee the collapsing surface.

Sephiroth sank to the ground, and Aeris kneeled beside him. "S-Sephiroth...?"

He glanced up at her, his sight a blurry haze, and realised she was crying. But her tears were not for him, Sephiroth knew that.

"I'll see you later..." And his eyes closed as his heart ceased to beat.

Sephiroth was awake, but not. He was more aware, then conscious he figured. He could hear the girl call out his name, but was unable to speak.

Sephiroth felt another presence as well. The puppet.

Oh, he would enjoy killing him!

Shining tears had trailed down her rosy skin, but they were not shed for him, and that made Sephiroth furious.

That little puppet was to blame for everything that had gone wrong, killing him by surprise five years ago! He even bore mothers cells inside him now, and Sephiroth vowed to tear them out with his own two hands. The puppet was not worthy!

The only weak consolation was the fact that Sephiroth could feel the puppet was now an empty shell of what he had been, after Sephiroth had stripped him of the illusion he'd been carrying around about his past. It had been easy to make the clone take his appearance aided by the Black Materia and tear down the puppets mental defences.

And now Sephiroth would take his life!

He felt darkness comming over him, and Sephiroth let himself sink into it, knowing when he opened his eyes again he would be alive once more, and the world would be his for the taking!

AN:

_Finally managed to finish up on the chapter despite busy days, and am already half-way on the next one so it shouldn't take as long as this one did._

_Once again humble thanks to my reviewers! Without you this would never be half as fun! You're the best!_

_And remember to feed your Sephiroths to keep from having magic moments interrupted!_


	5. Pain Gives Me The Right To Be Unkind

5. **Pain gives me the right to be unkind...**

Aeris watched with horror as the man she'd been travelling along with morph into a man she'd once seen inside a tunnel, even tried to help.

The man was now dead.

She gazed around, shivering as she realised she was trapped inside the room. Most of the ceiling had collapsed and fallen, but nothing had even gone near her. She knew it was Sephiroths doing.

Aeris got up on her feet, walking forward towards the huge Materia crystal that was now located on the ground in the center of the room. The crystal with the sleeping Sephiroth inside.

She reached out and placed a hand on the surface where she saw his face, "are you even alive in there...?"

Then a sound caught her attention, and Aeris glanced over to gasp in surprise as she saw the blonde man sitting by the wall.

His legs draw up so his knees touched his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Cloud had a distant look in his eyes.

"Cloud...?" Aeris whispered, almost afraid of believing what she was real. She hesitatingly walked over, kneeling down in front of him, "are you ok...?"

The blonde man turned his face away, whimpering softly.

Aeris reached out and touched his shoulder, "Cloud...? It's me... Aeris... Look at me... Please..."

But the man merely whimpered again, shivering with barely withheld tears. She realised he probably knew what he was and what he had done, and was unable to live with it. "No, Cloud," Aeris whispered softly, "it's not your fault! Please, listen to me, you have to make it through this! The planet still needs you! You're the only one who can save us!"

Dear Planet, she'd never seen anyone in this much pain!

Aeris glanced nervously back at the Materia crystal and knew when Sephiroth awoke then he would kill Cloud in a heartbeat.

Quickly gazing back at Cloud, Aeris knew she had no choice. She took a hold and pried his arms loose, managing somehow to pull him up his feet and supporting him as they stumbled over to the crack in the ground.

Aeris closed her eyes as she saw the green liquid, praying to the planet that it would use the Lifestream to bring Cloud to a safe distance.

He's our last hope, she pleaded, dreading to sending the blonde man into the dangerous waters.

Aeris turned to look at Clouds absent face, feeling her heart ache. "I'm sorry, but..."

Tears ran silently as she watched him fall, "please be safe..." Then she turned and walked back to the crystal to wait...

It was stupid how the tears simply wouldn't stop, and she sank down to rest her cheek against the cool surface of the crystal. Would Cloud hate her now? It didn't really matter as long as he survived...

She drew a sobbing breath, letting her hands drop to the ground. Frowning at the wetness they met, Aeris glanced down as she wondered if she'd cried an entire ocean or if just felt like it. No... it wasn't tears... She slowly lifted her hand up to look at it, and then at the crystal again.

The crystal was melting...!

Aeris blinked hard as she saw the severed end of Sephiroth glow, realising the Black Materia was in fact regenerating his very flesh.

Sephiroth was indeed returning from the dead!

But it would take an entire day before the first inch of damp skin was laid bare to the cold air, and a second day before the entire crystal was gone and Sephiroth was free. Aeris sat watching the silent form, mentally noting how he wasn't even breathing, but was more amazed to see how his body was now restored completely.

Sephiroth was nothing less than beauty there he was lying on his side, his wet hair fanned out in the pool of melted Materia. Aeris couldn't help but to notice that with those slender, long legs he had to be even taller now than before.

That's when she realised she was sitting there and openly ogling a very undressed Sephiroth. Turning beet-red, she scrambled over to her back-pack and pulled out a blanket to place over his silent body.

"No good in returning to life just to die from pneumonia, huh?" Aeris joked meekly, still feeling her face burn.

The first thing Sephiroth noticed was that his head was aching, like he had a terrible hang-over, secondly that he was freezing and wet, third and final thing; he was alive! He fought air down into his lungs, and tried to move his fingers.

"Sephiroth...?" A gentle voice called out nervously, and he struggled to remember. Ah, yes, Aeris.

Something was crackling near by, and Sephiroth understood she had a small fire close by. Oh, how he longed to be warm!

It was a real fight to manage to open his eyes, and Sephiroth cringed at the light that met his sore eyes.

"Sephiroth! You're awake!" Aeris said, and he felt her hands on his shoulders as she tried to help him sit up. "Are you ok...?"

Sephiroth tried to speak, but had to clear his throat twice in order to croak a weak; "yeah..." How could he have become this weak?!

"Careful," Aeris lectured, supporting him as he swayed, "your body hasn't moved for 5 years. You have to give it a little time to recover!"

Sephiroth managed to open his eyes again, glancing around. Everything felt much sharper and real now. It was like returning to a new world!

Gentle hands adjusted the blanket that was around him, then added a second, and Sephiroth closed his eyes in gratitude. He was so cold...!

The former general objected weakly when Aeris held a cup to his lips, but finally obeyed and sipped the liquid suspiciously. Warm soup. He felt it spread life through his veins, thawing the coldness in his bones and Sephiroth accepted the second time she held it to his lips without a fuss.

It would take a couple of hours, but soon he was starting to feel like an image of his old self. But it was still strange to feel the cold threatening to seep into him again, only fought back by the blankets against his skin and the fire radiating heat against him. Heat and cold, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like.

Glancing over, Sephiroth noticed Aeris gazing curiously at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Quickly staring into the flames, she shrugged. "Nothing. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been stuck in snow-land for five years. What was that look you just gave me?" Sephiroth grumbled, rolling his shoulders to work out some tension in the aching muscles. He wouldn't be surprised if his joints would creak as he moved...

Aeris glanced over at him again, "what's it like? Being back after death?"

Snorting, Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "well, you should know!"

He'd killed her not a week ago after all!

Blushing, Aeris giggled embarrassed and played with the tip of her braid, "oh yeah... I forgot..."

She forgot? Sephiroth blinked puzzled, then returned to stare into the flames. "It's much colder here than I remember..." He hugged his blankets tighter around himself.

"Yeah, uhm," Aeris was now staring intensely at her braid, "well, it would probably help with a little, ah, clothes..."

Sephiroth didn't answer, merely stared into the flames a little while longer, then discretely lifted an arm for him only to peer inside the blanket before returning the arm to it's previous position. "Oh." There was a short silence, then he cleared his throat, "get me my clothes in the bag, will you?"

Aeris jumped up, "right away!" She trotted over to the bag, vaguely remembering he'd given her a small bag to put in her back-pack, but hadn't really thought about it.

Returning to his side, Aeris handed him the small bag and Sephiroth sighed satisfied. "Thanks."

"You're not still wet, right?" She lectured him, stroking his hair to test, "you need to dry up properly or you'll catch a cold!"

Sephiroth gave a faint smile, "I'm fine..." He pulled out his clothes, smiling fondly as he pulled out his shoulder-pads. Finally he would feel like himself again!

Getting up, he noticed Aeris was staring at him and he raised his eyebrows. "I'm going to drop this blanket now and get dressed. If you want to watch, that's fine by me, but consider yourself warned. I wont have you drop over with a heart attack or something!"

Sephiroth saw the girl's face turn red and she quickly turned to sit with her back towards him. Smirking he let the blankets fall and began to put his clothes on.

She didn't dare to turn back even when she heard him walk, but finally peered over when it became silent. Aeris saw Sephiroth kneeling by where the crystal had melted, and held something in his hand. The Black Materia was reflecting in his eyes. Fear tingled at Aeris neck. "Sephiroth..." She knew she had no chance of taking it away from him, and cursed herself for not remembering it earlier. She'd been so occupied with the reviving Sephiroth and the agonized Cloud...

"Where is he," Sephiroth sounded distant, and suddenly set his eyes angrily in her. "The puppet! Where is he?!"

Gasping in fear, Aeris leaned away, "I let him go!" Her fear was nothing to the stubbornness pumping through her. She would NOT allow Sephiroth to kill Cloud!

The silver haired man got up, clutching the Black Materia tightly in his left hand. "Silly girl... He's going to die no matter what you do..." He flung out his right hand, and the Masamune flew from the crumbled form of the clone he'd used, to the hand of it's true master. Sephiroth slashed the air with his beloved blade and laughed silently, "you never give up, do you, Aeris?"

"Not as long as there is breath in me," Aeris whispered, locking her eyes with his. "Don't do this... please..."

Sephiroth didn't answer, merely held her eyes. She could see the turmoil inside him, and held her breath as his hand with the deadly materia sank. Aeris slowly got up on her feet, hesitating before slowly walking over with her hands reached out to land on his shoulders. "Listen to me, Sephiroth... I know you are suffering... I know about your past, and how you were created..." She felt him tense, and hurried to continue, "but remember that you weren't created from the thing called Jenova. You call it mother, but it's not true. You were born from a human mother and a father. What they did to you was beyond horrible, but it's not too late to turn back. You can still taste all the candy in the world and dance beneath the star-lit sky, Sephiroth! You are a part of this planet too, you know..."

Sephiroth closed his eyes, and she could feel the pain inside him. He was wavering in his determination.

Aeris reached up and placed a hand to his cheek, "there is still so much I want to show you..."

Leaning against her touch, Sephiroth sighed peacefully.

Then the sound of a huge explosion shook the cave and they stumbled away from each other.

Sephiroth glared up at the ceiling, and it exploded up into the sky to reveal a huge monster hovering outside a glowing barrier.

Weapon.

The monster rammed at the barrier again, this time even harder, and huge boulders fell from the crater.

"So you were the distraction while that thing came up behind me to kill me?!" Sephiroth screamed furiously at Aeris, and slashed the air with the Masamune.

Shaking her head, Aeris lost balance as Weapon rammed the barrier again. Falling to her knees, she gazed frightened up at Sephiroth, "no, I swear I didn't know!"

Why was Weapon attacking now?! Sephiroth was about to give up on his plan, Aeris was sure of it! Did... did the planet want him dead more than it wanted to save it's inhabitants?

Sephiroth levitated up in the air, "if your precious planet thinks a puny monster like that is enough to stop me and mother it is seriously underestimating us!"

"Sephiroth, no!" Aeris reached up a hand in vain, "don't do this!"

Slowly turning in the air, Sephiroth opened his hand to stare at the Black Materia with a mean look in his eyes. "The planet wants me dead, huh...? It's nothing new. Through my entire life I've been hated and feared... Now it's payback time!"

Aeris felt time stop as she watched the former general throw the Black Materia up in the air, hearing him call out the words that would be the end of everything;

"Summon Meteor!"

The black orb levitated in the air, it's shiny surface pulsating with malice and a ray shot up into the sky to disappear.

It was done.

Aeris closed her eyes and hung her head to let silent tears fall. It was over. She had failed.

Sephiroth was trembling. The ecstasy of power was still rippling through his body and he felt mother singing inside his head. He'd done it! He'd reached his goal and accomplished their mission! There was no way of stopping him now! Even Weapon screamed and fled as the Black Materia had nearly hit it.

He was slowly sinking towards the ground, eyes locked on the tiny light in the sky. Meteor was comming...

As his feet touched solid ground, Sephiroth became aware of the sound of someone crying.

Frowning, he glanced down and found Aeris kneeling beside him, her head hanging low as she sobbed heart achingly.

"Meteor is comming," Sephiroth said, not quite sure why he had to state the obvious.

"I know," Aeris replied in a shivering voice, then slowly gazed up at him with tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry."

Sephiroth started, his eyes narrowing as he took a step away. Was she apologizing to him?! What for?!

Aeris was looking at him with so much pity it made him shiver with anger, and she seemed torn with guilt.

"I was too late," she said quietly, "I hoped I could reach you in time, but I wasn't trying hard enough obviously... If only I could show you how much this world could give you, I knew you would understand. But I failed... I should have tried harder instead of wasting time..."

Wasting time? Sephiroth frowned uneasily, sheathing the Masamune. "You should have killed me when you had the chance, that's what you should have done!"

Aeris shook her head, wiping a tear away with the back of her hand, "but I didn't want to kill you! Killing doesn't solve anything! I wanted you to be happy!"

Pain shot through Sephiroth and he swayed as he placed a hand to his head. Her words didn't make sense! "Y-you knew what I was going to do! This was my destiny!" The echo of his laughter during their snowball-fight flickered inside Sephiroth, and the thrill of discovering the taste of each different candy piece along with dancing underneath the open sky brought this strange feeling in his chest. Happy? Was that feeling happiness?

"I believe we create our own destiny," Aeris whispered as she returned to stare at the ground. "And I was hoping you would give yourself a chance to do just that, and not simply be Jenova's... puppet."

Sephiroth sneered with fury, his hand landing on the Masamune, "you're calling me a puppet?! How dare you?! I'm becoming a god!"

"God over what?!" Aeris snapped angrily, staring abruptly up at him. "Meteor will kill everything besides you! Every human, every animal, every beast and every plant!"

Sephiroth staggered as the pain inside his head became almost unbearable, and he felt his mother screaming for him to kill the impudent girl.

I wanted you to be happy!

Aeris' words kept echoing through his brain and Sephiroth bit back a frustrated scream. "I don't need anyone!"

Crashing to his knees, he heaved for air. He'd been alone all his life, why should that thought scare him as much as it did?

Gentle hands went around his wrist and lowered his hands for the warm female hands to cup his face, and he slowly met Aeris' eyes as she was kneeling in front of him.

"I think you've been alone and in pain for so long you've forgotten how it feels to be in someone's heart," Aeris said softly, her eyes warm with kindness. "You've been betrayed, abandoned and used, Sephiroth, but don't give up now."

Sephiroth gave a faint, bitter smile, "after all the pain I've been through, it's only fair I pay this world back! With mother I am where I belong, and I'll never be alone again!"

"You belong in this world," Aeris declared gently, "there is so much I want to show you... So much joy that you've never been allowed to see. So many things you've never been allowed to try. Your past isn't who you are, it's never too late to change!"

Frowning, Sephiroth wanted to believe her words. Wanted to cling to the string of hope she was holding out to him, but found it hard accept. After everything he'd done, Sephiroth knew he was doomed. "What does it matter now? Everyone wants me dead, even the planet..."

"I don't want you dead," Aeris told him softly, and Sephiroth realised he was loosing the fight against the wild hope spreading inside him. He wanted to believe her so badly! "There is no need for any more lies," he sighed, turning his face away from her. "You may leave now. Mother will take care of me."

Aeris forced him to look at her again, her eyes burning more intensely than any he'd ever seen. "Tell me about 'mother', Sephiroth. She speaks to you? How does her voice sound? Like mine? Lighter, or darker?"

Frowning, Sephiroth felt a pain beginning to throb at the back of his head. "W-what do you mean...?" He remembered all the times mother had spoken told him, all the things she'd told him. Her voice... Sephiroth drew a strained breath, his eyes flickering. Mother's voice... it sounded like... All he had to do was to remember the last time she'd spoken to him... When she told him to kill Aeris... Her voice... Dark... Harsh... Familiar... So damn familiar...

That was when he suddenly scrambled away from Aeris, his heart thundering and fear seeped into his eyes as he sat stunned a mere meter from the girl. Mother's voice... sounded like... him... It was his voice telling him to kill Aeris. It was his voice telling him to go to the ice lands... His own damn voice telling him to summon Meteor...!

Sephiroth began to tremble uncontrollably, staring at the young woman kneeling in front of him, "what have you done to me?!"

Aeris saw the truth dawning in Sephiroth's snake-like eyes, and recognized the fear in his voice. "She doesn't have a voice, does she? Because she isn't real, Sephiroth! Jenova is using you!"

Once again the silver haired man was used and abused to reach someone else's goal, the story of his life. Her heart ached for him and she reached out a hand.

"Don't let this disease win! I know you're stronger than anyone on this planet, use that strength! I believe in you!" Aeris cried out, carefully inching closer.

Sephiroth was watching her like a wary animal, ready to flee. But his eyes were vulnerable, and she knew she had to strike at that moment if she were to have any hope of creating a miracle to save the planet despite of everything!

"Stay with me," Aeris whispered, reaching out her other hand towards him as well. "Let me show you life, Sephiroth."

She saw him shiver, saw the raw pain in his heart, felt the longing screaming inside him, and could almost hear the uncertainty raging in his blood.

As Aeris was sure he was going to withdraw from her again, hesitating fingertips met hers. She held her breath as Sephiroth let his hands trail over hers, up her arms and slowly pulled her closer into his embrace.

"What if it's too late," he whispered absently, his face hidden against her neck.

Aeris closed her eyes hard as tears of relief began to run down her cheeks, "it's never too late." She wrapped her own arms around his massive shoulders, and held him so close like she wanted to hide the powerful man from the world that hated him. "I'll help you make everything right again. It doesn't take any courage to leave everything behind, but it takes strength to try to make up for what you've done. I'll be by your side, Sephiroth. I promise."

"Everything you've told me... it's true isn't it? I've been... a puppet... even now, after swearing I would never be used again..." Sephiroth sounded calm, but so resigned it cut at Aeris' very soul.

"It doesn't matter," Aeris replied silently, "you know the truth now. You're free."

Pulling back to look at her face, Sephiroth gave her a weak smile that made her heart race as he stroke a hand over her tear-stained cheek, "free...? Strange how you have to loose everything to realise what you really want... Yes, I want to be free."

Aeris placed a hand over his, holding it to her cheek, "and now nobody is your master. Your road lies open to you, Sephiroth, but you must decide which path to take..."

The silver haired man's smile faded and he hesitated before he glanced up at the sky, "it's too late to undo the summoning..."

"Yes," Aeris nodded, knowing everything was probably lost the second Weapon had attacked and made Sephiroth use the Black Materia.

Sephiroth met her eyes again, his own flickering with guilt and regret, "is it too late...?"

Feeling hope once again, Aeris smiled, "how many times do I have to tell you? It's never too late!"

Returning her smile, Sephiroth got up and held out his hand to her, "then we have to time to loose. There must be some way to destroy Meteor or something! And I am going to find it!"

Aeris took his hand, letting him pull her up on her feet as her entire being sang with joy. "We are going to find it!"

Lifting her hand to his lips, Sephiroth nodded and placed a light kiss on it. "Yes... we will find it."

Her skin was burning from that brief touch of his lips, and Aeris felt dizzy with happiness. "Where do we start?"

"We start," Sephiroth said, releasing her to walk over and began to gather their things, "by getting out of here..."

Trotting over to help him, Aeris cast quick glances his way as she shoved the blankets into her back-pack. Sephiroth seemed to move much lighter now, like he'd been lifted of a great burden. Like his wings were finally untied and free to unfold to soar in the sky.

Sephiroth glanced over as well, meeting her eyes, and he smiled.

Aeris exhaled as he stole her heart...

"Traitor," a voice sneered, and Sephiroth's hand flew to the Masamune as he straightened abruptly to glare in the direction it had come from.

He heard Aeris gasp and tensed himself at the sight that met him. Hovering above them, a man looking just like Sephiroth.

"Stand back," Sephiroth absently ordered Aeris, and slowly pulled out the great sword. "I'll take care of him."

The fake Sephiroth landed in front of them, and the young woman nervously stepped up beside the real Sephiroth. "W-what is going on?"

Casting an annoyed glance at the disobedient girl, Sephiroth then returned to glare at the impostor. "I suspect someone isn't keen on us stopping Meteor..."

The fake Sephiroth pulled his sword, a bad copy of the Masamune. "I'll kill you both, traitor!"

"Jenova," Aeris whispered at it dawned on her, "this is another clone of you, isn't it, Sephiroth?"

Nodding, Sephiroth's eyes were locked on the clone, waiting for an opening to attack. "But even if they can take on my appearance, they cannot match my skills!"

Before anyone could react, he shot forward and the blade of Masamune glinted as it easily went through the chest of the clone, "I don't go easy on people impersonating me!"

The clone gasped and shook, blood slowly running down the Masamune, and it was over. Sephiroth yanked his sword back and watched the limp form fall to the ground, withering back to it's previous appearance of a young, dark haired man.

"We'd better get out of here fast," Sephiroth muttered, his eyes flickering uneasily over the dark walls. "That was too easy..."

"Surely the great general Sephiroth recognizes a diversion when exposed to one?" A voice mocked, and he tensed as several more clones came out of the shadows.

Sephiroth felt chills running down his spine as he cautiously gazed from one mirrored image of him to another, "like I said, we'd better hurry. Removing these excuses for an obstacle shouldn't take long."

Aeris nodded, picking up her back-pack to clutch it close anxiously. "I'm ready."

"Stay close," Sephiroth whispered to her, his mind already calculating their escape. The clones looked like him, but they all lacked his strength and skill. Their only advantage was them outnumbering him, and that could be dangerous enough when surrounded by creatures with no will of their own or the ability to feel fear.

He could feel Aeris' worried eyes on him as he slowly walked towards the clones. "Be careful," she pleaded softly, and Sephiroth smiled wryly.

It was the first time he'd ever heard anyone hope for his safe return.

"I wont be defeated by her again," Sephiroth declared, swirling the Masamune absently as he calculated which clone to strike first.

They were about 20, and he suspected at least 10 of them had military training. It shouldn't be a problem, as long as Aeris kept back and they focused on attacking him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sephiroth taunted, raising the Masamune into his fighting position. "Are you afraid, 'mother'?"

A clone shook his head and lifted his sword in a simular position, "waiting for the signal..."

Sephiroth felt a chill of nervousness in his veins, "signal...?"

Then his world exploded in pain, and he nearly dropped Masamune as he stumbled. His head was aching so bad Sephiroth had to fight for air, and a burning pain grew worse by the seconds in his blood. Gripping the Masamune franticly with his right hand, he pressed his left hand to his head and the silver haired man tried to will it away so he could focus on the fight.

A clone came running towards him with his sword raised, and years of practice made Sephiroth able to dodge the attack and cut his own sword through the attacker's side. Stumbling to regain his balance, the former general felt he was about to loose consciousness if the pain raging his body wouldn't let up soon, but knew the other clones wouldn't hesitate to follow their comrade into attacking him now that he was weakened.

Despite everything, he managed to fight them off a while by relying on his instincts and deadly skills, but then Sephiroth crashed to his knees with a scream as he felt something tear it's way out from his back. Jenova was using the cells inside his body against him.

He lashed out the Masamune blindly and hit a clone he'd felt approach, and fought his way up on his feet again.

Swaying, Sephiroth tried to focus his blurry sight and sneered furiously, "I won't... let you defeat me...!"

Aeris was pressing against the wall, staring in disbelief as Sephiroth got up on his feet again.

The lone, white wing still stained by his blood as it had torn free from his back.

She could only watch as the clones attack, flinching as Sephiroth was slowly driven back despite avoiding being hit by their swords. Jenova was torturing his mind, yet he was still able to keep sane. And a white wing...

She flinched as two clones screamed in agony as Sephiroth used his Fire materia, but still kept her eyes on him.

There were about 5 or 6 clones left when they got their hit in. Aeris bit back a frightened scream as she saw the sword slice Sephiroth's left leg and he crashed down on one knee.

There was no time to think, Aeris merely ran forward and barely ducked under a sword swung in her direction before she was kneeling by Sephiroth's side.

"W-what do you think you're doing...?!" Sephiroth groaned strained, clutching the bleeding gash with his left hand.

Aeris placed her hands over his as well, "what does it look like? I'm helping you!" She flinched as Sephiroth raised the Masamune quickly and she heard the clang of metal as he prevented a clone from hitting her with his own sword, but she focused on the bleeding wound as she placed her second hand over it as well.

There was a short confusion as rain gently trickled down on them, and the clones gazed up at the sunny sky.

"Great Gospel," Aeris prayed intensely, her hands growing warm as Sephiroth's injury healed beneath them.

Sephiroth was staring at her, and as she glanced up at him Aeris almost forgot to breathe.

A radiant aura was surrounding him, his eyes bright and intense, and the white wing cleansed of blood now pure as snow.

"Jenova can't touch you now," Aeris whispered, and released him while trying to take her eyes off him.

Sephiroth slowly got up on his feet again, carefully testing his leg, and returned to the clones with a slash with the Masamune. "Right... payback time!"

No matter how close the clones got with their attacks, their swords merely grazed off the aura, and Sephiroth remained unharmed. Even the pain inside his head seemed to have been reduced as his movements were smooth and deadly like before. Aeris was just beginning to relax, when she saw one of the clones suddenly rush towards her.

Glancing around, she wished desperately for her staff, but had no weapon to defend herself with at all. Aeris closed her eyes hard as the fake Sephiroth raised his sword, and she waited for the pain she'd felt once before to strike her again. It never came.

Slowly opening one eye, Aeris started at the sight that met her.

The clone had dropped his sword, and was now sinking to his knees with a deep cut across his stomach. Sephiroth was still holding Masamune in place from it's attack, and was breathing hard as he stared at the dying clone. His eyes were burning with hatred.

Then he slowly gazed over at Aeris, letting the Masamune sink. "Are you ok...?"

Aeris managed to nod, noticing that even now that the aura was disappearing he still looked divine with his mere presence. "Thank you..."

That was when a spray of blood shot from Sephiroths chest, and a sword appeared as the last clone had come up behind him.

Aeris screamed.

The crimson liquid sailed through the air almost like in slow motion, and sun glittered on it's surface before it hit the ice-covered wall to run down like tears.

Time stood still.

She reached out, heaving for air through sobs, and Aeris saw Sephiroth frown almost confused as he raised a numb hand to the sword impaling him, while the Masamune clattered to the ground.

"Traitor," the clone growled, yanking out his sword and the silver haired man fell to his knees, still numbed by shock and pain.

Aeris froze as Sephiroth's eyes met hers, and she shivered at all the emotion she saw in them.

The sword fell again, and this time Sephiroth screamed as the sharp blade separated the wing from his body and the clone kicked it away, "you're not worthy of mother's powers!"

Aeris scrambled over as Sephiroth fell, catching him in her arms as she whispered his name.

His eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow, but Aeris felt he could hear her. "Don't you leave me now, Sephiroth! I promised to show you so much, and you can't make me break a promise, can you?"

She could have sworn she saw a faint smile, and his hand twitched like he wanted to reach up and touch her, but didn't have the strength. Aeris bent her head and let her tears fall freely. "Please, Sephiroth... Don't leave me..."

A hand locked around her neck, and she screamed as she was yanked away and tossed against the wall.

The clone chuckled viciously as he lifted his still blood-stained sword, "don't waste your tears, girlie, you're going to follow him soon enough!"

Aeris didn't bother to run, nor fight or plead. She lifted her chin slightly, "yes, I know I'll meet him again in a place where you can never reach us, Jenova. His soul was free, and he was loved. That was all he wanted, and everything you couldn't give him... I'm not afraid. I can't wait to see him again."

Aeris closed her eyes.

She heard the sword cut through the air, and drew a deep breath.

A strange sound caught her attention, and Aeris slowly opened her eyes. It sounded like like someone drowning...?

She gasped as she saw her attacker staring hazy-eyed at her with his sword hanging uselessly in his limp hand by his side and was choking on his own blood as the Masamune protruded from his chest.

The clone sank to the ground, and Aeris shivered as she saw Sephiroth on his feet by the sheer power of his will, and his eyes burned defiantly.

Then she caught him as he fell, holding him close as his blood soaked her as well.

"It's alright now, Sephiroth. It's over."

AN

_Phew, that was a long one._

_Sorry to create another cliff hanger, but had to end the chapter or it would have gotten too long. . ._

_As always, huge thanks to my reviewers! Your words are my inspiration! Keep them comming!_


	6. Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart

6.** Something's got a hold of my heart...**

Aeris managed to lower him to the ground, biting back a sob of fear as she saw all the blood. Sephiroth had lost consciousness, yet his hand was still clutching the Masamune. She scrambled over to her back-pack and pulled out the very blankets she'd used to keep him warm when he'd returned to life. Now Aeris was praying to them to help her keep him alive! Maneuvering one under his back, she placed it against the wound, and tore the second blanket in half to place one part over the gushing wound in his chest. Aeris couldn't help but to notice how soaked her hands were with his blood, and they trembled as she used the final piece of the blanket to tear into what she could use to tie around him, hoping to keep the blankets pressuring at the wounds.

"Hang on," she whispered intensely, "don't you dare to die on me now! I swear I'm gonna follow you into the depths of the Death Realm and yank you back! You hear?!"

Aeris sniffled as tears were blurring her sight, and she absently wiped the back of her hand over her cheek, unaware of the streak of blood left in it's wake. "Y-you just rest now, ok? I'll figure out what we're gonna do..." Getting up on weak legs, she glanced helplessly around. They were in the middle of nowhere. There were no one there she could ask for help, and ice were surrounding them on every side. Hopelessness threatened to strangle her, and Aeris fought down air into her lungs. "Don't panic, you silly girl," she scolded herself, "that wont help at all! Think... Think!"

She knew she had no chance of carrying Sephiroth, and he was turning paler by the seconds. There was no time for her to reach the town of Icicle and return with help, he would perish while she was gone. There had to be a way! She refused to give up! Somewhere along this trip, Aeris had gone from swearing to stop Sephiroth to vowing to save his soul and make him live instead of exist! Aeris clutched her hands into tight fists and her eyes narrowed. "I'll get us out of here," she declared, taking a step towards the exit. It was eerily quiet outside the cave, and Aeris wondered if the invisible barrier had something to do with it. Jenova was still there, it's presence like someone watching you that you yourself couldn't see. The feeling of something breathing down your neck. Shuddering, Aeris pulled her jacket a little closer around herself and glanced around. Steep hills and miles to walk. She closed her eyes and swallowed down her tears, "dear ancestors... if you can hear me through Jenova's barrier... I could really use a little help here..."

It was naive to think the spirits would hear her, much less help her. Sighing at her own feebleness, Aeris turned to enter the cave again. The sight that met her as she turned made her eyes widen and she shrieked in surprise.

The chocobo's jumped backwards with startled warks, and stomped their feet offended.

Aeris stared disbelieving from one to the other, having to reach out and touch a feathery neck before she could really believe it. "Y-you two...You followed us?" She instantly recognized the two birds she had nagged Sephiroth into helping them pass the monster that had initially trapped them.

One of the chocobo's warked softly, gently nudging it's head against her shoulder, and Aeris felt the tears well up again. Tears of relief this time.

"You've come to help...?" Aeris reached out and petted each bird, "please, I need your help!"

And despite how everyone said chocobo's were stupid animals, the two birds followed her of their own accord and even the chocobo that had stepped on Sephiroth's boot warked concerned at the sight that met them.

"I know," Aeris agreed pained, and gazed over at the yellow bird, "we have to get him help! We need to get to Icicle Inn. Can you help us?"

The huge bird warked cheerfully, flapping it's comically small wings, before lying down beside the wounded man.

Aeris breathed relieved, scratching it's neck gratefully. "Thank you!" She then began the difficult task of getting Sephiroth on the chocobo. Groaning as she managed to get him somewhat hoisted up, Aeris slowly leaned him over the bird's back. "For someone with your slender frame, you sure is heavier than you look, Sephiroth!" She continued tweaking, pulling and shoving until she got the former general into a slouched, somewhat sitting position.

Wiping her sweaty forhead, Aeris nodded satisfied and climbed up behind him. "Remember, if you fall off, Sephiroth, you're taking me with you and it's a long way down!" She yelped and placed her arms around him to grasp a hold of the feathery neck of the chocobo as it got up, and barely managed to keep Sephiroth in place. The other chocobo warked confused and tilted it's head quizzically at her.

Aeris gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry. It's not you, but he can't ride on his own. He'll just fall off."

The bird warked cheerfully and trotted off. Aeris barely had time to draw a sharp breath, then they were on their way!

Aeris had no idea where they were going, but she trusted the animals to get them to safety. She was too busy worrying over how the blankets were now soaked through with blood, and she had never seen a person so pale as Sephiroth was at that moment.

Luckily the chocobos were used to the landscape, and easily climbed hills and jumped over plateaus.

The bumpy ride seemed to last for hours, and maybe it did, and Aeris leaned her cheek to Sephiroths shoulderblade while closing her eyes.

He was still breathing, she could feel his every breath against her, and she hoped her closeness was providing him with some warmth at least. Aeris was not sure how long they had been standing there, but she suddenly realised the chocobos had stopped.

Straightening, she gasped in relief as she found herself by the back way into Icicle Inn town!

The chocobo hesitatingly walked over the the inn as Aeris nudged it's sides with her heels, and warked suspiciously as the door opened. An elderly lady blinked confused at the sight that met her. The two chocobos. One carrying the slumped form of a man, his long silver hair swaying softly in the wind. And the young girl preventing him from falling off from where she sat behind him, her clothes soaked in blood. "Please... I need your help..."

The old woman started to life and flung open the door and yelled for her employees. "Good Planet, girl! What's happened? A monster did this to your friend? Are you unharmed, child?"

Aeris nodded wearily as two men slowly slid Sephiroth of the restless chocobo and carried him inside. "Yes... A monster..."

She got off as well, but turned to hug each chocobo in turn. "Thank you," Aeris whispered, "you may have saved us all. Take care..."

The birds warked, and she stepped back as they spun around and ran off back into the wild. Aeris watched them disappear, then glanced up at the sky before reacting to the elderly woman ushering her inside.

It was so wonderfully warm inside, but Aeris instantly asked about her friends condition.

"They're getting the doctor now," the old woman explained, tugging off Aeris' blood-stained jacket. "What about you, child? Are you sure you are unharmed?"

Tears filled in Aeris' eyes once again, but she forced them back as she glanced up at the room she could see people running in with bandages and bowls with medicine. "Yes, I'm completely unharmed. Thanks to him."

The lady glanced up as well, "he must be some man, that friend of yours. Not many people would be willing to take such an injury to save someone's life..."

Silent tears ran down Aeris cheeks as she took a step towards the stairs, "he's just beginning to bloom..." She gazed quickly back at the old woman, "I have to go to him." Without waiting to her the objection, she ran up the stairs and came to a halt in the doorway just in time to see a man sitting down on the bed beside Sephiroth. They had removed his armour and bared his torso, and Aeris closed her eyes hard at the sight of the wound in his chest.

"It's bad," the man beside Sephiroth mumbled, opening a small kit to pick up a needle. "Don't know how much we can do for him..."

"Don't say that!" Aeris exclaimed loudly, her heart suddenly racing with panic, "he'll be just fine! He can't die!"

She felt arms go around her and she fought franticly to free herself as tears flowed freely. "He can't die, I say! Not now!" Aeris reached out for the silent form on the bed as she was pulled out of the room, "you can't die! I won't allow you! PLEASE! Don't leave me! Please... Don't..."

And darkness came up to swallow her into silence...

Aeris woke up as her head ached beyond belief, and she groaned softly. Where were she? What had happened? She slowly realised she was lying in a bed, and painfully opened her eyes.

"Oh, you're awake," a voice said, and someone walked towards her.

"Yes," Aeris whispered, "I'm awake... What happened...?"

The elderly lady appeared as she leaned over to place a wash cloth on Aeris' forhead, "you fainted, dear."

Fainted? Aeris frowned confused, then slowly began to remember. Yes, they'd said Sephiroth wouldn't make it. They'd said he would die...! The thought of Sephiroth dead... she wasn't sure why, but it made it hard to breathe. Sephiroth!

Aeris sat up abruptly, yanking the cloth away. "My friend! How is he?!" Her heart was once again hammering with fear, and she dreaded the answer she might get.

"Now, now, child," the woman scolded gently, trying to make her lie down again, "your friend is resting. And you should do the same. We don't want you fainting again, do we?"

Aeris slowly eased down into the pillow once more, eyes searching the woman's, "he's... going to be alright...?"

Tensing, the elderly woman cleared her throat and fidgeted with Aeris sheet, "they... wouldn't say. He's a strong one, your friend, so they didn't say all hope was gone."

Aeris sat up again, "I have to see him..." She brushed away the woman's hands that tried to keep her still, "he doesn't trust anyone. He needs to hear my voice. He needs to know I'm there, that I haven't left him. I promised."

Giving up, the woman sighed and got up as well, "you won't listen to reason, will you, dearie?"

Managing a faint smile, Aeris glanced over at her, "I think I gave up reason when I walked over to his fire one evening that seems a lifetime ago..." She then gathered her courage and quickly set course for Sephiroth's room.

Placing her hand on the closed door, Aeris rested her forhead against the surface for a few seconds, not sure what sight that would meet her. He was still alive, she had to focus on that. Focus on being strong.

Drawing a deep breath, she then pushed open the door and entered the room. "Sephiroth...?"

They had pulled the curtains in front of the windows, so the room was dimly lit, but she could easily make out the surroundings and walked over to the bed.

Sephiroth seemed asleep, sheets pulled up over his chest hid his wound, and she was tempted to believe it had all been a bad dream. But she knew...

Aeris sat down on a chair beside the bed and reached out to take his hand in hers. It felt so cold. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm still here... I told you I wouldn't run from you, so here I am. Listen, we still have things to do here, ok? So don't get any plans about bailing on me!"

She bent forward and placed her lips briefly to his hand before resting her cheek to it, "you saved my life... But if you think that makes us even for you taking it once, you're dead wrong, buster! Don't you know how long a woman can hold a grudge? I'm still not satisfied, so you better wake up and get better!"

The silence was slowly killing her, and she gazed up at his face. So pale and helpless. It was so wrong to see him like this. Sephiroth always seemed to radiate life, raw energy and strength. Still, it was something about seeing him in this weakened state; Sephiroth was indeed human. He was equally able to bleed and die as everyone else, and his blood just as red as theirs. Jenova hadn't won over his soul.

"Very well," Aeris whispered, reaching out to stroke a lock of silver hair from his face, "you just rest a little while longer then... I'll be right by your side... so when you wake up, I'm here with you..."

Then she clutched his hand as she placed her hands on the mattress, and rested her head on them as her eyelashes grew so heavy...

Aeris felt warm and safe, and the lovely feeling of someone gently stroking her hair made her slowly arise from slumber land. Blinking drowsily, she raised her head to see who it was, and her heart jumped as her sleepiness vanished instantly.

Sephiroth managed a weak smile, letting his hand sink down to the mattress beside her. "Sorry... Didn't mean to wake you..."

Staring, Aeris didn't dare to believe it. Didn't dare to breathe. It was a dream! It had to be... She shivered and kept staring.

"What...?" Sephiroth frowned slightly, "what's wrong?"

He was alive! He was awake! He was frowning in that superior way of his! Aeris bit back a scream of joy and it came out as a half-choked squeak.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Sephiroth inched up slightly and gazed around, speaking in a slightly raspy voice, "what...?!" Clearly there had to be some horribly monster hanging in the ceiling or she'd just won the lottery to make her this speechless!

Aeris waved her hands, carefully pushing him into the pillows again despite his pained groan, "stay still, silly! You'll tear up all the stitches!" She corrected the sheets that had slipped down to his waist, and cleared her throat embarrassed. "There. Now, stop jumping around!"

Huffing, Sephiroth was too tired to go into a hissy fit, "then stop acting like a weirdo!"

"I thought you were going to die!" Aeris exclaimed, grasping his hand tightly.

"So?!" Sephiroth tugged at his hand, increasingly annoyed at his own weakened state.

He fell silent when she lifted his hand to her cheek and stared at him with tear-filled eyes, "I was so scared that you were going to die... If only I was a decent fighter, then you wouldn't have to watch over me all the time... a-and you wouldn't have gotten hurt!" Aeris turned to press her lips against his hand, feeling how much warmer he was now.

Now it was Sephiroth's turn to stare, but he managed to gather himself. "Bah, you're a decent fighter, I've seen you. Strength might not be your thing, but I've never seen anyone with healing abilities like yours..."

Aeris shook her head, still clutching his hand to her cheek, "if it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have been hurt!"

Snorting, Sephiroth gave her a solemn look, "if it hadn't been for you, I would've been dead. Either by Jenova's tricks, the Planet's revenge or some SOLDIER, my path was leading to my death in some way or another."

Jenova. He'd referred to the creature by it's name, not as 'mother'! Aeris drew a shivering breath, managing a smile, "I'm so glad you're going to be ok..."

Sephiroth sighed wearily, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back into the pillow, "you're a strange, little girl..."

"And you're a ungrateful brute," Aeris declared. 'Strange, little girl'?!

Chuckling without opening his eyes, Sephiroth gave her hand a little squeeze, "don't worry about it. After all, I'm a strange man, so I shouldn't talk."

Aeris had to laugh softly, then tilted her head as she studied his face, "but I am really glad you're going to be ok, Sephiroth..."

Her only reply was a silent sigh and she smiled slightly as she mumbled to herself; "he sleeps..."

Leaning forward, she placed a feather-light kiss on his forhead, and got up to place his hand by his side and arrange the sheet slightly higher over his chest. Aeris knew he was going to be ok now, and an incredible weight was lifted of her shoulders.

Watching him silently for a little while, Aeris then turned to return to her own room as the need for sleep was wearing her down. Out in the hall way, she closed the door silently and was about to walk down the hall when Aeris found herself face to face with the elderly lady that had taken them in.

"That man in there," the old woman said, "that is General Sephiroth, is it not...?"

Aeris felt a wave of ice cold dread flow over her and she tensed nervously, "what if he is...?"

The woman was staring at the door, "they say he's trying to destroy the Planet..."

"I know that, but it's not true!" Aeris declared intensely, "it wasn't him! He's trying to help us now!" She scolded herself for thinking they were out of danger for a even a minute. "I swear to you, he's no danger to us! We need him! He's the greatest warrior there is!"

The elderly lady shook her head, "I hope you know what you're doing..." Then turned to leave.

"Wait," Aeris called out, "don't tell anyone... Please..."

Shrugging, the woman slowly made her way down the stairs, "your secret is safe."

Aeris walked over to peer over the railing down at the elderly lady, "why are you helping us...?"

She barely heard the woman's reply;

"Because I knew your father, Aeris..."

Those words kept her awake for many hours, and when sleep finally over-powered Aeris she didn't dream at all. Even her mind seemed too tired to be able to come up with something, so she was blessed with silence.

The sun was high in the sky when she finally awoke, and Aeris scrambled into the bathroom. Why hadn't anyone woken her up? She hurried and was soon trotting down the hall to Sephiroth's room. Was he asleep too? What if he'd woken up and ran off? What if others had found out who he was and had come to hurt him?!

Aeris nearly ran straight into the elderly lady and yelped as the tray the woman was carrying swayed dangerously.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see you..." Aeris apologized as the woman got her balance again, "I'm so sorry!"

The elderly lady smiled and nodded towards the door, "I was just bringing him some soup. Maybe you would like to...?"

Once again surprised by the kindness, Aeris accepted the tray, "thank you." She saw the woman smile enigmatically while turning to leave. It was like that woman knew something Aeris herself didn't.

Shrugging it off, Aeris knocked on the door, smiled at the gruff, "enter!" At least he was awake and alive!

"Hi there," Aeris greeted as she entered, balancing the tray on one hand. "How are you feeling?"

Sephiroth was sitting up in his bed, glaring grouchily at her. "Like I've been impaled by a sword! How do you think I'm feeling? Doesn't anyone in the forsaken town have any Restore Materia?!"

Aeris walked over to sit down on the bed beside him and placed the tray on her lap as she removed the lids on the bowls, "nope. They don't rely on materia here as there is hardly any fighting."

Huffing, Sephiroth turned his face away, glaring at the curtains still covering the windows. "Understandable. Who would want this miserable excuse for a town anyway!"

My, someone was grumpy, Aeris thought with a smile, then lifted a soup-filled spoon slightly towards him. "I bet somebody is hu-ungry!"

His face snapped back to glare at her, but his eyes flickered at the sight that met him. The thought of her feeding him did obviously not sit very well...

"Give me that," Sephiroth barked, grasping the spoon. "I don't need you babying me!"

Aeris maneuvered the tray over to his lap, "of course not..." Then she leaned over and fluffed his pillow, before placing a hand on his forhead. "Seems like the fever is gone..." Aeris smiled brightly at his withering look, settling to sit quietly on the bed as he ate.

He was still tense, but she knew it came from feeling exposed from being in such a weakened state. Sephiroth would hardly be able to put up resistance should anyone attack him right now...

And Aeris could also see him start with pain from time to time as he drew breath, knowing the cut might have injured his left lung...

"Anyway," she chirped as Sephiroth pushed the tray away after a few minutes, "we're safe here, so you just concentrate on getting better!" Taking the tray, she walked over to place it on the table by the door before returning to his side.

Sephiroth hoisted himself slightly higher, grunting with pain, "how do you know we're safe? If anyone finds out who I am... Actually, I'm surprised no one has noticed yet."

Aeris leaned over and adjusted the pillow behind the muttering Sephiroth's back, "well... don't worry about it. Can I get you anything else?"

He was eyeing her drily as she sat back, "yeah, some cure materia!"

Poking her tongue at him, Aeris then patted his knee lightly, "seriously!"

Sephiroth turned his face away from her, "seriously? There isn't much you can get me is there?"

"Candy?" Aeris suggested, then giggled at the venomous look he sent her. "Fine, the candy can wait until you're better and only handed out under supervision!" She tilted her head as she studied his face, amazed to see him with his normal complexion and with barely faint traces of weariness. "Wow... you're looking much better than yesterday! In a few days maybe you wont even need Restore Materia...!"

An almost childish look of sulkiness came over Sephiroth's face and he snorted angrily, "a few more days in here and I'll turn into mildew!"

Giggling, Aeris jumped to her feet, "then it'll be my responsibility to keep you from such a horrible fate! I'll just have to find some way to entertain you then!" And before he could object, she left the room.

Sephiroth sighed and leaned back as he closed his eyes. True, his wound didn't bother him as much anymore as long as he didn't jump around too much, and he had a sneaking suspicion that was because of something in that soup. Still, if the people here intended to take his life, he would have been dead by now, so he figured it was some sort of herbal pain-killer or something. Sephiroth couldn't understand why they were helping him, but he wondered if they thought they were doing Aeris a favour. He couldn't see her lying about his identity, as he couldn't see her lying about anything, so they were probably all captured by her kind eyes and gentle spirit. Bah, if they only knew what he'd done to her, then Sephiroth wouldn't be safe much longer! He smiled wryly, glancing over at the door. His senses told him he had to get out of there, that he wasn't safe among humans in his weakened state, but his body warned him of trying anything. Besides, Sephiroth sighed again, the world was going to come to a crashing end soon enough so why bother trying to escape?

He tried drowsing, but despite his tired body was his mind fully active and Sephiroth soon found himself bored beyond belief! The once so great general had never been in bed this long throughout his entire life! Where was that girl?! Not that he was worried about her or anything, he told himself gruffly, but she had promised to keep him from turning mad with boredom! Still... there was a slight chance they might see her as a traitor for helping him, wasn't there? An uneasy feeling began to settle in his stomach, and Sephiroth tensed. She was an experienced fighter, but he knew she had no weapon and if the entire town was against them... Sephiroth shifted restlessly, not sure why the thought of anyone hurting Aeris made him so furious. Alright, she had saved his life, it was probably that! Yeah, some sort of gratitude debt or something... It had absolutely nothing to do with her sparkling eyes or the way her smile made him giddish and nervous like some rookie or anything! Wait, since when had he noticed her smile?! "Right," Sephiroth muttered to himself, sitting up with a pained groan, "that's it. This idleness is already affecting my brain! I'm going to see what's going on!"

No sooner did the door open, and Aeris rushed over. "Nonono! What do you think you're doing?! You have to stay in bed! You can't run around with a wound like that, Sephiroth! You nearly died!"

Refusing to admit the relief at her appearance, Sephiroth let her guide him back into the pillows with a grumble, "yeah, nearly died of boredom!"

That's when he noticed she had placed two cups on the night table and a small package.

"What's that?" He nodded towards them as he brushed away her hands as they were arranging the sheet over his chest.

Aeris sat up and smiled brightly, "ever tasted hot chocolate?"

He gazed emptily at her, having no idea what it was.

Still smiling, she took a gentle hold of his shoulders and eased him up to push several more pillows behind his back.

Sephiroth closed his eyes as he inhaled the scent of flowers from her, and his mind numbly wondered how she could still smell like spring flowers here in the middle of the ice lands... Then he started back to his senses and fanned her away as he found himself in a sitting position, supported by the pillows so he had no pressure to his wound. "I told you I don't need you babying me!"

Aeris didn't appear fazed by his words at all, "everybody needs a little taking care of once in a while, and something tells me you haven't gotten too much of it, so be quiet and enjoy it while it lasts!" She also didn't seem to notice the stunned look on his face as her words hit their mark painfully well.

Clearing his throat to regain some dignity, Sephiroth tried to change the subject, "so what about hot chocolate?"

Placing one cup between his hands, Aeris looked even more curious than him, "it's warm, so be careful, ok?"

She still had no faith in his strength, Sephiroth thought grumpily. Like some drink could be too warm for him to handle?! Smelling the steam rising from the cup, Sephiroth had to admit it did have a divine scent. He saw her blow carefully into her own cup before taking a careful sip. Shrugging, he did the same.

It was... wonderful! Warm, sweet and thick. Unaware of doing so, Sephiroth smacked his lips softly as he savoured the taste. Glancing up, he saw Aeris smile at him, and before he could stop himself did he smile back at her. She was making it damn hard to keep from smiling in her company!

But when the small package she'd brought proved to be a deck of cards, Sephiroth avoided suggestions of what games to play by studying his hot chocolate.

"Come on," Aeris prodded, "surely even SOLDIERS know how to play cards? All that waiting time in the field before and after great battles, no?"

Sephiroth smiled slightly, "you're right. There usually was a deck of cards involved, but I doubt you would survive playing that game..."

Aeris could hardly believe her ears! She recognized a challenge when she heard one, and this was a challenge!

Huffing, she began shuffling the cards, "I can take you up on any game, mister! And beat you in it!"

The silverhaired man merely chuckled and sipped his drink again, "dubious."

"Try me," Aeris declared, staring at him. She was no coward, and thanks to Reno, the Turk, she'd learned most of the shady games on the planet!

Sephiroth lowered the cup, gazing calmly at her. "No."

Fighting the urge to slap him, knowing it would cause him more pain than she'd intend to because of his wound, Aeris resorted to pleading. "Oh, come on, please? Or are you scared that I'll beat you?"

She grinned as she saw his eyebrow raise a notch, but then the former general put his cup away.

"Listen, just forget about it," Sephiroth sighed, "it's not a game for little girls."

Aeris glared at him, "tell me!"

Sephiroth glared back, "no."

Aeris leaned closer, "tell me!!"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, "no!"

Aeris placed a finger hovering over where his wound was. "Tell. Me!"

Sephiroth glanced down at her finger, then met her eyes, weighed how much he believed her threat and finally raised his eyebrow again, "strip-poker."

Aeris stared. Then she felt a burning blush flood her face and she straightened abruptly. "Oh," she squeaked.

The silverhaired man chuckled satisfied, shrugging lazily, "told you. Now, leave me the cards and I'll play solitaire while you do something exciting, like washing your hair."

Gasping with offence, Aeris waved the cards under his nose, "that's it! You're going down, mister smarty-pants! Poker it is!" She huffed embarrassed, "b-but not... we're not doing the stripping part, as it wouldn't be fair to you. I mean, I'm much more dressed than you, s-so..."

Sephiroth smiled like a wolf, "what makes you think you'll be able to get a single piece of clothing off me? I happen to be the champion of poker, you know..."

Swallowing hard, Aeris waved his words away, "poker it is. Now, you just get ready to be humiliated!"

Placing a hand over hers to halt her shuffling the cards, Sephiroth tilted his head as she met his eyes, "but we have to have a bet, or it's not even worth playing!"

Feeling oddly powerless under his touch and amazing eyes, Aeris managed to whisper, "a b-bet...?"

Nodding, Sephiroth released her and pretended to ponder things carefully. "Tell you what... if you win... I'll let you braid my hair."

Aeris giggled happily, the image too good to turn down. "Okay, I'll agree to that one!"

"But...!" Sephiroth smirked, "if I win..."

Aeris felt her heart hammering in her chest, her skin tingling with nervousness, "...yes?"

He let his voice become a silky smoothness, "should I win, which I will, I want... a kiss."

AN

_This isn't really a cliffie, is it...? _

_Anyway, just wanted to say I've been through a pretty harsh time in my life and it's been wonderful to be able to slip into the FF7 world and escape for a little while._

_Once again, huge thank you to every single one of your reviews!_

_Thanks for making my days a little brighter!_

_And next chapter is already in writing! _


	7. Twisted Little Star

7. **Twisted Little Star**

Sephiroth had the pleasure to see Aeris turn even a deeper shade of red as his words sank in.

"A-a kiss...?" She stuttered with a look on her face like he'd asked for something much more daring than a simple kiss. It was no big deal, Sephiroth told himself, not certain why the idea itself seemed so irresistible when it had first entered his mind.

"Surely that is not too much to ask when I risk having my hair braided," he drawled leisurely, lifting a hand good-naturally to show his generosity.

The former general hoped he appeared more relaxed than he really was as Aeris glanced down at the cards she began shuffling again, considering.

Finally meeting his eyes again, Aeris nodded with a smile. "Deal. Now get ready to be defeated, general! I am going to leave you in my dust!"

Sephiroth chuckled at her confidence, getting slightly more comfortable as he suddenly felt more focused than he had been since his first war. "You'll regret those words, flower girl... I wasn't the ShinRa army's undefeated poker champion for nothing!"

Aeris halted her shuffling and gazed puzzled at him, "but... strip poker in the military...?"

"Yeah, well, almost a quarter of my army were female, so it made it a heck of a lot more interesting," Sephiroth explained with a shrug, "that's enough. Start dealing."

She seemed to hesitate, then obeyed. "Taking advantage of having female subordinates, Sephiroth... That's not very nice..."

Sephiroth frowned with offence, remembering too well how he had to make it a habit to check his sleeping quarters not for reptiles and bugs like the others, but for love struck soldiers. "I have never made any of my soldiers do anything they didn't want to themselves!"

Starting, Aeris met his eyes again and instantly took his hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean... Of course you wouldn't do such a thing. Forgive me..."

Sephiroth held her gaze for a while, making sure she really did believe his words, then relaxed and picked up his cards. "Yeah, well, it was mostly the female soldiers idea anyway, as they got as bored as us. It just made it all more tolerable. When you risk your life everyday for weeks, even a trivial game of poker could make you feel alive..." He tensed slightly at the compassion he saw in her eyes, knowing she probably read how much he'd grown tired of wars in his tone of voice, but Sephiroth forced himself to focus on the cards on his hand.

Hmm, two kings, two nines and a three.

Glancing up, Sephiroth studied her face as Aeris was looking at her cards, and he let his gaze linger to seek for a revealing sign of what she had.

The silver haired man smiled slightly as he noticed she had at least mastered the art of a neutral face, and returned to his cards.

Okay, two pairs weren't a bad place to start at, and he had nothing to loose by giving up his three of spades.

"One," Sephiroth declared, tossing down the useless card.

He saw her glance curiously at him, then Aeris placed down two cards of her own. "I'll take two."

Two? That could mean a lot of things, but three equal would beat his two pairs...

Sephiroth fought a frown of his face, suddenly feeling a tinge of fear at the prospect of pig tails or what worse was. No, stay focused, he scolded himself, you haven't lost yet!

The single card was dealt, and he hesitated a heart beat before picking it up. Holding his breath, Sephiroth glanced at it, then placed it among his others before gazing over at Aeris. Her face was impossible to read as she too placed her new cards among her old ones.

"Well?" Sephiroth asked nonchalantly, lifting his chin.

Aeris shrugged, meeting his eyes coolly. "You want me to go first?"

The former general shrugged as well, "ladies first."

"Very well," she smiled slightly, "there's no changing the outcome anyway." And Aeris placed her cards down with their faces up.

Sephiroth blinked.

Her triplets would beat his two pairs...

He slowly put his cards down, but triplets did not beat two kings... and three nines. "Full House."

Sephiroth had won.

Aeris was staring at the cards, her mind racing to understand what had just happened, and she could feel Sephiroth's eyes resting on her.

Oh dear Planet... she'd messed up big time now...! When she'd seen her three tens, she'd been certain she would win! How often do you get such a good starting hand?! Aeris swallowed hard, feeling horribly nervous. It was strange. She should be feeling fear and reluctance, but the only feeling she could recognize was nervous excitement. It wasn't like she had never been kissed before, but...

Slowly raising her eyes to meet his reptilian gaze, Aeris drew a shivering breath. "You won..."

Sephiroth gave a slight smile, "yes."

Like he had told her he would. Aeris suddenly got the feeling that when Sephiroth set his mind to achieve something, his will was strong enough to make it happen.

"So..." Aeris nervously gathered up the cards, staring down as she absently began shuffling them, "so, uhm, you..." Her words trailed off as his hand landed gently over hers, halting her movement. Feeling herself blushing again, Aeris raised her eyes to look at him. He was smiling. Not in his usual condescending way, nor with gloating malice, but with something else... Something that made her heart race and she had to remember how to breathe...

Slowly his hand lifted from hers and traveled to touch her cheek, and Aeris was unable to move or speak. His eyes were hypnotizing, his touch warm and his mere presence awe-inspiring.

"I will only accept my prize if it is bestowed willingly," Sephiroth declared silently as his fingertips moved over her features in feather light caresses.

Aeris drew a shivering breath before she leaned slightly towards him, "I know."

She felt his hand move agonizingly slow behind her neck, and urged her even closer. The world had simply faded away and she was drowning in his eerie eyes...

Tilting his head slightly, Sephiroth leaned forward as well and she could feel the warmth from his lips as he seemed to give her a final chance to back out by stopping a mere inch from her. That was all it took. Aeris moved her hands up to land on his upper arms and absently noted how warm his skin was before moving her lips to his.

The first contact a mere brush, a trying motion.

Aeris smiled embarrassed, praying she wouldn't pass out and ruin the moment.

Then Sephiroth pulled her closer with his hand behind her neck, and met her lips fully.

Oh dear Planet, Aeris thought as she melted against him. Her ancestors had warned her about his insanity. They had warned her about his cruelty. But they never warned her about this! The feeling of gentle, teasing kisses.

His lips were impossibly soft she thought irrationally. How could someone like Sephiroth, lean and muscular like a feline, have such lips?! How was it possible for someone like him to steal her will away, making her tremble as he deepened the kiss and made her clutch his arms harder.

The world didn't matter anymore and all Aeris was aware of was him. How long did it last? She did not know. When had her hands traveled up to go behind his strong neck? She had no idea. But it all felt so... incredibly right.

Only when Sephiroth let one arm slide around her, urging her closer to him, and it resulted in a slight start of pain from his wounds did Aeris return to her senses.

Reluctantly pulling back slightly, she placed a trembling finger to his lips as she gave him a shaky smile. "I... I think you're in no shape to take liberties, mister, and nor would I allow such a thing." Aeris felt him draw breath to object, and his slightly hazed eyes told her he was about to declare he was in excellent shape for all kinds of liberties she would allow. Blushing deeply, Aeris tapped her finger lightly against his lips to halt his words, "don't."

She saw a flicker of confusion in his eyes, and she let her hand move over to trail along his jawline in a caressing gesture. Aeris studied his face as he silently let her move light fingertips over his cheekbone, and she felt a strange sense of panic come over her.

No, this couldn't be right! His face wasn't supposed to wake such feelings inside her! His kisses weren't meant to make her strangely restless and dreaming of more! It wasn't him she was supposed to look forward to talking to when a new day began! She was in love with Cloud!

Her eyes danced with confusion and pain, and she closed them in defeat as Sephiroth could sense her distress and reached out to caress her cheek comfortingly. Tilting her head against his touch, Aeris took a gentle hold of his wrist to hold is hand there as she finally dared to meet his eyes again.

For once his gaze was open and honest, showing her too clearly the gentle soul still alive inside him after sleeping for so many years and Aeris turned to place a kiss inside his palm.

"Oh, Sephiroth," she sighed frustrated, feeling even more guilty at the added confusion in his eyes. Things were too complicated already. And Sephiroth surely did not need this burden as well.

Aeris released him and got up to gather their cups, "want another cup with chocolate?"

Sephiroth shrugged, "sure." And she could feel his eyes resting on her as she left the room...

That night Sephiroth hardly slept at all. He tried telling himself it was because he'd slept more these last two days than in years, but knew in reality it was because every time he closed his eyes he saw her face. Kept reliving the moment when her lips were against his. And the strange, almost accusing, look in her eyes as she pulled away from him. The silver haired man sighed wearily, rubbing his eyes. He hated being weak like this. If he'd been his old self, Sephiroth could simply have marched to her room and demanded an explanation! Smirking, Sephiroth let his hand fall to the madras again. Who was he kidding? Wounded or not, he would still have been hiding under the covers like a coward. He, who had fought countless battles, lead great armies into war and emerged victorious, was afraid to ask what that look in her eyes was. Was terrified it wasn't what he against all odds hoped it was. His mind told him it was impossible, but the thought wouldn't leave him. Could someone actually care for him? There had been no reason for him to save her life, any more than there was a reason for her to save his life in return. But he had. And she had. It had to mean something, didn't it? What if it was just his imagination?

Sephiroth closed his eyes hard, knowing Aeris was exactly the type of person to save someone's life because she felt sorry for him. That thought was even worse. He didn't want her pity, dammit! He wanted her! Her silly candy-raids! Her completely un-appropriate snow-ball fights, in which she refused to admit defeat! He wanted to dance with her again, in a real ball-room with real music this time. He wanted to spend a day with her without anything on their minds besides enjoying that very day. Enjoying life.

As each thought passed through him, Sephiroth turned even more depressed. It was useless to torture himself like this...

Closing his eyes hard, the former general decided it was better for everyone if he just snuck out of town just before dawn and by doing so; Aeris would be free from him. Free to return to her friends. Free to ease her worrying about them that she tried so hard to hide from him.

Finally drowsing, Sephiroth failed to noticed the random thoughts of aggression and violence that seeped into him. It would be so easy to just get up now and set out on a hunt for the blonde puppet that lead the annoying group. With all of them dead, Aeris would have no other choice but to stay with him! Yes, it was still not too late! He could tear their cozy little gang apart, and remain victorious with Aeris by his side as Meteor came crashing down to bestow him with powers greater than anyones!

Frowning, Sephiroth squirmed slightly in his semi-sleep, but the thoughts just kept on comming. A darkness was slowly engulfing him, and it got harder to breathe by each second. It was so dark... Sephiroth knew if he screamed, no one would hear him. He was alone. That was when he noticed the faint glow of light above him, and Sephiroth gazed up at it. What was that? Something told him it was a light of hope. His only hope. Staring at it, the light got bigger as it drew nearer, and soon light flickered over him as the flames danced around the object. His salvation. His destiny.

Sephiroth woke up with a start, panting for air as he tried to calm down. The silver haired man ignored the pain as he sat up, feeling how weak he was, but refusing to acknowledge it. His legs trembled under him, but he forced them to obey...

Aeris opened her eyes abruptly. Something was wrong. Sitting up, she gazed around in the darkness of her room, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Then she went ice cold. Sephiroth!

Jumping out of bed, she dressed quickly and ran down the hall. Oh please let him be alright, Aeris thought as she reached out and knocked on the door to his room. No answer. Her heart began to thump hard with panic. "Sephiroth...?" Aeris knocked again, then hesitatingly opened the door. Peering inside, she found his bed empty. Just as she was about to turn and run down-stairs, she noticed the light dancing on the walls and Aeris took a step inside the room. Gasping, she placed a hand over her heart and trembled. Aeris saw Sephiroth stand in front of the window, his back towards her, and the burning light from Meteor in the sky made his shadow dance on the floor. "Sephiroth...?" Aeris whispered meekly, the shock of seeing Meteor making her numb with fear. She could only watch as she saw Sephiroth slowly raise a hand to place it against the window, almost as if he wanted to touch the burning object in the sky. "Sephiroth...?" Aeris tried again, taking a step towards him. Was he even aware of her presence? Was he once again in Jenova's control? Had everything been in vain? No, she refused to accept that! Starting slightly as Sephiroth let his hand sink, Aeris gathered herself and stepped up beside him.

His eyes...

Aeris slowly reached out and touched his shoulder, gaining his attention.

Sephiroth gazed over at her, his pained eyes flickering. So much guilt and pain.

"I didn't... Why... I only..." He trembled and gazed back at the burning object in the sky, "Meteor... Everything is going to die because of me..."

Letting her hand rest on his shoulder, Aeris stepped closer as she wanted nothing more than to take away the pain in his eyes, "it's not over yet." She started slightly as the former general sank to his knees, hiding his face in his hands.

"What have I done...?" Sephiroth whispered in agony, having realised he'd once again been used as a tool of death and destruction. Had his life no other value? Was there no other reason for his existance than to kill? If Jenova was a disease, then he had to be a virus as well.

Aeris kneeled down beside him, hesitating before she slowly wrapped her arms around him, "Sephiroth... " She closed her eyes as he leaned slightly against her, and she felt the shivers running through him. "It's going to be okay..."

A harsh snort was heard from the resigned form, and Sephiroth opened his eyes to look at the flickering light on the walls from Meteor, "how is that possible...?"

"Jenova still has to defeat Cloud and AVALANCHE," Aeris declared silently as she gazed at the lights as well, but she felt him tense slightly.

Sephiroth felt a twinge of irritation at her mention the name of that puppet, grumbling grumpily; "How do you know they're not dead yet?" He'd messed up again, and the puppet got to play the hero again!

Frowning, Aeris played with a lock of silver hair, "because I would know. And I believe in them."

"In him, you mean," Sephiroth muttered and pulled away from her. He gazed absently up at Meteor through the window, and Aeris wondered if Cloud defeating the former general so many years ago was the reason for the obvious dislike or... if there was another reason...

She shook of her thoughts and decided to focus on calming down Sephiroth and give his soul a little peace. "You should get back to bed. It must be painful for you to walk around like this..."

He didn't even look at her, the fire of the burning Meteor reflecting in his eyes.

Stroking away a lock of silver hair from his face, Aeris gave him a faint smile as he finally met her eyes, "you aren't supposed to be moving around. You're wounded, remember?"

There was a look in his eyes that warned her that he was scheming something.

"Meteor is going to hit Midgar first, you know," Sephiroth declared in a challenging tone.

Aeris felt a chill going down her spine, leaning back slightly. "How do you know that...?" There was only one way he could know the Meteor's destination...

The silver haired man gave a razor sharp smile, "she told me."

She? Aeris felt fear settling in her stomach as she realised. She was Jenova. "What...?"

"That's right. Jenova spoke to me tonight. She wants me to kill you and return to her side," Sephiroth declared as he held her eyes calmly. Waiting for her to recoil in fear obviously.

Aeris lifted her chin slightly, instinctively knowing she'd reached the point where it would be settled. Sephiroth was going to choose his side. "So what's you decision?"

He watched her with something reminding of a wry smile, then suddenly began to get up on his feet and she started before reaching out to help him.

"I'm not just going to sit here and hope that dunce will get his act together and saves the day," Sephiroth sneered through the pain, gaining his balance before returning to glare at the Meteor.

Sephiroth was not going to just sit back and wait. No, he'd never leaned back to let anyone else do the work in his entire life, and this was not a good time to start doing that! If the puppet and his gang were taking on Jenova, then he could minimize the damage Meteor would do when the blonde messed up!

"I'm going to Midgar," he declared in a calm voice, barely noticing Aeris grasping his wrist.

She shook her head, eyes filled with fear. "Sephiroth, you can't! Your wound! You'll die if you try to travel such a distance in your condition!"

The words amused him. "I'll be fine," Sephiroth gingerly touched his bandaged chest, hissing softly at the pain. A few more sudden movements and the stitches would tear open... "Besides, I'll pick up some Restore materia on the way."

Shaking her head again, Aeris refused to release her grip on him, "but why? Why are you going to Midgar? You are no doubt the greatest warrior on this planet, Sephiroth, but not even you can stop Meteor with your sword...!"

Sephiroth's ego soared happily. She thought he was the greatest warrior on the planet? Which he was, of course, but her opinion obviously meant more to him than he'd realised. "But at least I can tell that idiot Rufus that Meteor is going straight towards his office, and get as many people out of there as possible." The former general sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes. "But all is depending on wether or not they can stop mo... Jenova. If they can't stop her, then it won't matter where we run." That was when he noticed the silence and that Aeris was staring at him. Glancing around, Sephiroth made sure there wasn't any strange monster she was staring at behind him, and focused a puzzled look on her. "What?"

Her eyes were filled with emotions, and she was smiling. Smiling so warmly it made him uneasy.

Shifting nervously, Sephiroth frowned, "what?!"

Aeris giggled, stroking his arm apologetically. "I'm sorry, it's just... You're risking your life to save those people..." She tilted her head with that warm smile again, "that is quite amazing, you know."

Sephiroth huffed embarrassed, "yeah, well, I'm responsible for this mess, so..." He turned to walk over to the door, biting back a pained groan. Every breath he took felt like fire raging through him. His legs felt weak and oddly powerless.

"I'm comming with you!" Aeris declared, and he shook his head firmly.

"I'm going alone," Sephiroth knew very well he would not return from this trip and he didn't want her to be in danger. Strange. He was worried about the very girl he'd killed not too long ago. But so much had changed since then...

Aeris stepped up in front of him, blocking his way with a challenging look. "Oh yeah? And how, exactly, are you going to stop me? Besides, I'm going to make sure you don't get yourself killed. Someone's gotta see that you take your wounds in consideration and not run into a fight with the first monster you come across!" She actually met his eyes defiantly, not shrinking under his most authoritative stare. Dammit, was he loosing his touch?

"Aeris," Sephiroth began, meaning to appeal to her reason, but then she gave him a gentle shove and the world exploded in pain. Gasping, he took a step back and raised a hand to hover over the bandaged chest, not quite daring to touch the painful area.

Aeris sighed regretfully and tried an apologetic smile. "See? If I could, I would try to persuade you to wait a few more days, but I know you wont listen. You need me, Sephiroth, like it or not. And I'm going with you, so deal with it!"

Drawing careful breaths as it felt like fire was burning inside his chest, Sephiroth raised his gaze to meet hers and hesitated before giving a weak nod.

"Good. Now you stay here, while I check out what kind of transport we can get, ok?" Aeris didn't really wait for an answer, but skipped out the door and closed it behind her.

Sephiroth waited a few seconds more, just to make sure he could move without passing out. Testing, he figured he could at least make it over to the bed and sit down without blacking out. The former general eased down on the bed, holding his breath, and only dared to exhale when properly seated. How was he going to make this trip? Bah, it wasn't like he had any choice. If he didn't do anything, he'd be dead anyway. Sephiroth glanced over at Meteor and felt that twinge of fear again. He could just about taste the malice radiating from it. The same empty intent to destroy that radiated from the creature he'd called mother.

Shuddering, Sephiroth averted his gaze from their future doom and stared absently down at the floor. There was no way he was just going to wait around for the puppet to save the day! He was the reason for this mess, so he was going to do something if he was to be able to live with himself at all! The silver haired man glanced at the door again, silently wondering what Aeris was doing. She'd mentioned transportation, and he had to admit she had a point; there was no way he'd manage to walk the distances he used to in his current condition. But the thought of a bumpy chocobo ride seemed even less tempting...!

"Before you freak, hear me out, ok?" Aeris requested while holding the door open for Sephiroth, as he stubbornly refused letting her support him as he walked.

Glancing suspiciously over at her, Sephiroth paused in the door-way. "What do you mean...?"

Then a cheerful wark caught his attention and Aeris drew a deep breath as the former general's face snapped over to glare at the two golden birds waiting out in the snow. Here we go, she thought, seeing how Sephiroth was counting down to a massive explosion. "Sephiroth, you're in no shape to walk!"

Sephiroth waved a dismissive hand towards the two chocobos, "those things will kill me so I'll take my chances!" His eyes widened even more at the sight of the sleigh that was being pulled over towards the huge birds. "Oh, heck no!"

Closing her eyes briefly, Aeris then walked over and placed a hand on his upper arm. "Sephiroth, it's the only way! It's either this, or we don't go at all!"

"Bah! You can't stop me," Sephiroth huffed, then eyed her hand warily as it traveled up his arm to round his shoulder and pause by his collarbone. One poke or shove and he would be a pained ball of Sephiroth on the snowy ground.

Aeris raised an eyebrow as she met his eyes, knowing it would among the most horrible things that could happen to him if she'd make him collapse in front of the people watching them.

Seconds passed, a silent war raging between them, and Aeris bit her lower lip excited when Sephiroth finally yielded and turned his gaze away.

"Fine!" He muttered angrily, then reached out his hand towards the north. "Masamune!"

The sword. Aeris had forgotten about it. It had been left behind in the ice cave, as she'd been focusing completely on getting the badly wounded Sephiroth back to the town. He wasn't seriously meaning they were going back there to get it?

No sooner had she thought about the non-tempting possibility did something flash metallic in the distance. Something that was comming closer by each second at an alarming speed. It couldn't be...?

Starting slightly as his hand clenched around the hilt, Aeris stared in awe as Sephiroth caught the Masamune mid-air. Master and sword was reunited once again. A bond stronger than distance. "Wow," she declared eagerly, "no wonder you don't worry when you keep forgetting it all over the planet!"

In the middle of a dramatic air-cutting, Sephiroth flinched at her words and sheathed the sword demonstratively. "I don't forget it! I just... Well, never mind that now! The feather-brains are ready, so let's just get going!"

Giggling silently, Aeris followed him over to the sleigh. It looked so pretty and comfy! Painted blue and silver, with thick blankets just waiting to be snuggled in. And the sound of the grumbling Sephiroth climbing painfully on board only made her giggle again. She turned and waved goodbye to the people she'd gotten to know, especially the elderly lady at the inn. The one who knew who Sephiroth was, and who'd known Aeris' father.

Getting in as well, Aeris easily stole the reins from Sephiroth, who protested surprised, but was firmly ignored. She gave a final wave to the town-people, then put the chocobos in motion.

Biting back a jab of pain, the former general glared annoyed at her, "and what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm driving. What does it look like?" Aeris smiled sweetly at him, even more amused at the sour look on his face. "Do you even know where we're going?"

Sephiroth gesticulated faintly, "south, I would suppose would be the logical way. And the reason I'm asking is because you're going north!"

Nodding, Aeris let the chocobos continue in their own pace. They knew where they were going. "And by going south, we would arrive in Bone Village, correct? And then what...? Do you plan to swim over to the main lands?"

Sephiroth blinked. He hadn't thought that far... It wasn't like he was just possessing a clone this time... and he was wounded as well. "Point taken," he finally muttered, "so where are we going then...?"

Aeris gave him a secretive smile, "it's a surprise!" The dry look he sent her made a desert appear moist. "Oh, alright!" Aeris rolled her eyes, "you're no fun! Fine, we're going to see the Chocobo Sage!"

"The what?" Sephiroth asked, never heard of such a man before.

Aeris glanced over at him, "rumor says there is a man who lives in this mountains that knows everything about chocobos, and even has several that can cross mountains, rivers and even oceans!"

An uneasy feeling settled in Sephiroth's stomach, "a rumor? You're leading us into the ice mountains because of a 'rumour'?!" The former general was generally on a mutual dislike level with the big birds, and was not very keen on meeting their master.

"No one has actually met him, but I know he exist!" Aeris declared, gazing bright eyed into the horizon, the cold bringing a slight colour in her cheeks.

Sephiroth swallowed back his poisonous remarks, and merely closed his eyes as he leaned his head back. His wound was throbbing and Meteor's presence was constantly flickering in the back of his mind.

Hours melted together and passed in a blur, and Sephiroth numbly realised the trip was harder on him than he'd thought it would be. Aeris had fallen silent as well, and he knew it was because she was worried about him. How strange to have someone fretting over his well-being...

Sephiroth was soon asleep most of the time, once waking up in the middle of the night to find Aeris curled up against him as she'd fallen asleep too. He wondered briefly if he should take the reins to make sure the damn birds didn't run off a cliff, but it seemed like they knew where they were going and it was far more tempting to just let his arm slide around the slender form so close to him. Aeris sighed softly in her sleep, and Sephiroth gave a drowsy smile as he corrected the blanket around them. When she was close like that, his mind was finally at peace. Sephiroth could finally relax...

He had no idea how much time had passed, but when he woke up again it was bright daylight. Blinking tiredly against the brightness of the snow, Sephiroth realised the chocobos had stopped. It was probably that which had woken him up, and he glanced down as Aeris stirred beside him.

"Looks like we're here," Sephiroth said quietly as she glanced up at him, having seen the small house a few meters away.

Aeris sat up, yawning as she stretched. "I fell asleep...?" She rubbed her eyes before glancing around and lit up at the sight of the house. "The Chocobo Sage! I knew he was real!"

Sighing at the loss of the warmth her closeness provided, Sephiroth then motioned towards the house. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Aeris got out easily enough, but Sephiroth quickly discovered that all those hours in the same position did not sit well with his body. His joints just about creaked and his wound ached infernally! Swallowing down the pain, he managed a strained smile to Aeris' quizzical look. He didn't want her fuzzing over him now, feeling a twinge of curiosity at who was the owner of a house in the middle of nowhere. If Aeris knew how much pain he was in, he had a strong suspicion she would tuck him in the sleigh again and force him to wait there. He was the great general Sephiroth! He could take a little pain!

Aeris was skipping happily in front of him as they approached the house, and Sephiroth let one hand rest on the hilt of the Masamune just in case. You could never be too careful in this world...!

Sephiroth held his breath as he watched Aeris knock on the door, and they waited...

"Yes...?" A voice croaked, and Aeris started with excitement.

"Excuse me, sir," she chirped, "we're looking for the Chocobo Sage..."

The door opened and a tiny man with a huge hat, and maybe even bigger beard, peered up at them as he leaned on a strange looking cane, "looking for who, did you say?"

Aeris smiled brightly, everything in her telling her that this was the man they were looking for. "We're looking for the Chocobo Sage. We were told we could find him here."

The old man scratched his neck, "I have never found anyone besides me here and I've lived her for many years..." He then tilted his head and measured Sephiroth behind dark glasses, "what's wrong with the boy?"

Sephiroth forced himself to straighten and walked over to hover beside Aeris and shot a menacing glare at the little man, "nothing is wrong, old man. Are you the Sage or not?"

The tiny man suddenly stuck out his cane and poked at Sephiroth's shoulder.

With a barely restrained cry of pain, the silver haired man would have fallen to his knees if Aeris hadn't supported him.

Traipsing inside, the tiny man declared they should enter and escape the cold, "as it looks there is a lot wrong with the boy!"

Sephiroth leaned heavily on Aeris as he drew shivering breaths and tried to will the pain away, while sending a murderous glare after the man, "I may not like chocobos, but I violently HATE that man!"

AN

_This one took a little more time as I've been away a couple of days, but am back and writing again now!_

_As always I have to thank you reviewers! You're the best, and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well so feel free to review your opinion!_

_Chapter 8 is not too far away, so stay tuned!_


	8. Enter The Chocobo Sage!

**8. Enter The Chocobo Sage!**

They entered into the cosy little house, Aeris hushing quietly at the muttering Sephiroth as they walked up the stairs to the second floor. The old man, that Aeris knew had to be the Sage, motioned for them to sit down in front of the fire place.

"Care for tea...?" The tiny man asked, shuffling over to a table filled with all sorts of things.

Aeris helped Sephiroth ease down on the fluffy rug, ignoring his protests and dismissive gesticulations, before sitting down beside him and smile brightly to their host. "Oh, yes please! It's so cold outside!"

The Sage nodded, scrambling with a tea pot, "it's even worse than usual this year. Even the chocobos seek refuge in the lower valleys where there still are snow-free spots for them to graze on..."

"So you are the Chocobo Sage then?" Sephiroth smirked, determined to not let the old man squirm his way out of helping them.

The tiny man paused and pushed his hat slightly higher up on his head and seemed to consider the silver haired man's words, before tilting his head puzzled, "who?"

Aeris saw the reptilian eyes narrow with anger and she quickly cleared her throat, "like we said, we were told the Chocobo Sage was living in this area..."

"That's funny," the old man declared puzzled as he poured water into the tea pot from a small bucket, "I'm the only one living in these mountains..."

Sephiroth drew a sharp breath, ignoring the pain that shot through him, "well, are you him or not, you buffoon?!"

The Sage put the tea water over the fire, tutting at the impatient tone, "you need to take it a little easy considering that nasty wound of yours, Sephiroth."

Aeris started and quickly gazed over at the former general to see her own surprise mirrored in eerie eyes. None of them had mentioned Sephiroth's name.

"You know who I am?" Sephiroth asked suspiciously, suddenly tense as iron.

"I don't know," the Sage replied in a quizzically tone, "do I?"

Forcing himself calm, Sephiroth waved a hand angrily, "you just said my name!"

The Sage absently played with his beard, "I did?" He shook his head, "can't remember for the life of me."

Aeris blinked surprised as she watched the Sage find a second tea pot and hold it up as he asked them if they wanted some tea.

"You already put on some water, you idiot!" Sephiroth exclaimed, "now answer my question!"

The old man glanced at the tea pot over the fires and chuckled, "it appears you two are in luck! I just put on some water!"

Aeris fought back a giggle, but saw the former general about to hit the roof. "Uhm, we need to cross the ocean to reach Midgar. It's really important, you see. Is there anyway a chocobo could help us?"

The Sage leaned forward to peer at the glaring Sephiroth, "should you be traveling with such a wound, young man...?" And poked Sephiroth in his shoulder with the odd cane again.

Biting back a cry of pain, Sephiroth gasped for air as rage flared up even worse, "what do you think you're doing, you imbecile?! That hurts!"

"It's kind of a crisis," Aeris hurried to interrupt, "we really need to cross the ocean."

Straightening, the old man glanced over at Aeris, "cross the ocean, you say? You're going to need a chocobo for that."

Sephiroth rubbed his eyes, fighting off a growing headache.

Aeris nodded, "do you know where we can find such a chocobo...?"

A few seconds passed in silence, then the Sage tilted his head, "how about I put on some tea water? Want a biscuit?"

At that point Sephiroth got up, and Aeris gazed nervously at him.

The silver haired man waved away her worried look, "I'm just going to sit outside for a little while. I need some air."

Aeris watched him slowly walk down the stairs, cringing with pain from time to time, and she sighed thoughtfully.

"The gold chocobo will be ready by dawn," the Sage declared absently as he peered into a third kettle he'd found.

Aeris smiled.

Sephiroth painfully eased himself down to sit on the lowest step of the stairs. That old man had been seconds from a violent death, but he knew Aeris wouldn't exactly approve...

It was starting to get dark outside... Well, as dark as it would get with Meteor burning in the sky.

Sephiroth glanced up at it, feeling himself almost hypnotized by it's deadly presence, feeling it beckoning to him. Sensing Jenova's whispers in the back of his mind. It would be so easy to let go, but Sephiroth gave a wry smile. He'd never taken the easy path, had he? Why start now?

Besides, this was the first time in his entire life that he was free. Free to do whatever he wanted, with no one pulling his strings. There had always been someone telling him what to do, but now he was acting on his own.

As the door opened, Sephiroth tensed.

If that old man had followed him...

He let one hand slide over to rest on the hilt of the Masamune.

"Tea?" A petite hand held out a cup in front of is face, and Sephiroth glanced up to find Aeris smiling down at him.

"Yeah, thanks," he accepted the cup from her, placing both his hands snugly around it to warm them.

Aeris sat down beside him, nursing her own cup as she too gazed up at Meteor. "You know," she said after a short silence, "if it weren't for the fact that it's out to kill us all and end the world... Meteor might actually have been pretty. Look at the flames dancing in the sky..."

Blinking surprised, Sephiroth looked up at the Meteor before sipping his tea. He cut a face at the taste. Way too much sugar!

Aeris giggled at the look on his face, "I'm sorry but the Sage insisted on making yours... A little heavy on the sugar, huh?"

Sephiroth nodded, swallowing down the sweet liquid with a shudder, "yeah... Thanks for the warning..."

"I forgot!" Aeris defended herself meekly with a badly hidden smile, "besides... had to see the look on your face."

The former general smiled as well, "glad to be of service, if only to act as the entertainment!" He absently gazed into the semi-darkness again and let his thoughts wander back into his past. It was strange how when you had death hanging in the sky that you went over all your regrets and mistakes... In a moment like that, shouldn't one rather focus on all the happy memories and precious moments? Sephiroth forgot and sipped his tea, once again cutting a face at the taste, knowing he only had regrets and mistakes to look back on.

"How are you feeling?" Aeris asked silently, her eyes filled with concern."The trip here must have worn you out..."

Sephiroth tossed out the sickeningly sweet tea, and smiled slightly. "I should be ok. I'm trained not to let wounds bother me or slow me down, remember?"

She didn't look convinced.

Aeris put her cup down on the ground, turning to place a hand on his cheek to make him face her, "but that's not what I asked..."

A little out of balance because of her touch, Sephiroth managed a shrug, "I... don't know. Confused and a little lost, I guess."

Her smile was purely angelic and she let her fingertips trail along his jawline, "just remember that you are not alone anymore, Sephiroth. I'm right here beside you."

"For how long?" The words came out of Sephiroth's mouth before he could stop himself. It was a thought that had been bothering him for some time now. If the puppet and his friends failed, and Meteor came crashing down to kill them all it would mean he and Aeris would in fact be together until the very end.

But what if Jenova was stopped and Meteor banished...? Surely Aeris would return to her friends, and Sephiroth would be alone once more.

He wasn't sure why that thought bothered him as much as it did... but it was constantly lurking at the back of his mind.

She didn't have to return to the blonde man! She didn't need the puppet to play her hero! Dammit, Sephiroth could be that hero!

Aeris looked a little puzzled at his question, then smiled again. "I'm always going to be there for you, Sephiroth! Friends are for life!"

Sneering, the silver haired man turned his face away. His friend and the puppet's wife...?!

"Sephiroth...?" Aeris gently touched his arm, "what's wrong...?"

He was going to loose either way, wasn't he? Sephiroth swallowed hard, clenching his hands into tight fists. If they couldn't stop Jenova, they would die and Sephiroth would loose his freedom just as he was getting the taste of it. If Jenova was defeated, then Aeris would return to the blonde's side and Sephiroth would be alone again. A true loose-loose situation...

He turned and let a hand slide behind Aeris' neck, holding her slightly confused eyes with his own.

Then he kissed her.

Gently. Deeper. Intensely...

He was vaguely aware of her leaning against him, submitting willingly to his advance and even encouraged him by running her hands through his hair.

"More tea?" A voice cut through and Aeris started away from him.

Closing his eyes as he tried to calm his breathing again, Sephiroth counted to ten. He was going to KILL that old man!

"How's that wound doing in this cold?" The Sage asked in him as he reached out his cane and poked at Sephiroth's shoulder.

Exclaiming with pain, Sephiroth's face snapped over to glare murder at the tiny man, "go... AWAY!"

Aeris got up nervously, her face suspiciously flushed and she wouldn't look at him. "W-we should go inside..."

Sephiroth could only watch as she fled...

Aeris almost ran up the stairs, falling to her knees in front of the fire as she raised trembling fingers to her lips.

He'd kissed her! And she had basically thrown herself at him!

Ok, so he'd kissed her once before but that was because of that bet! This time... Sephiroth's eyes was burning with something, his kiss drawing her into a whirlwind of feelings she wasn't supposed to feel! Why did he kiss her?! It wasn't right!

Aeris drew a shivering breath, still feeling her skin tingling from his closeness, and mentally scolded herself for trying to convince herself that she hadn't enjoyed what had just happened. There was just something about Sephiroth that lured her closer like a moth towards a flame. Would she burn and fall?

And Cloud...

If Meteor was stopped, Cloud had to learn that she was alive and that they could be together after all! It was what she wanted, right?

Closing her eyes, Aeris wondered if Sephiroth had ever been at Wonder Square at the Golden Saucer and how he would manage the snowboard game Cloud was so skilled at. A smile tugged at the corner of Aeris' mouth as she knew the silver haired man would try a couple of times, most likely fall over in every curve, and throw a tantrum while hacking the machine to pieces with his beloved sword!

She wondered if Sephiroth would make fun of her or help as Cloud had when a living frog had appeared in her bed...

Aeris had to smile. She knew Tifa had won a frog at the Square earlier, and the guilty look on her face was enough to reveal the culprit, but Aeris also knew how deeply Tifa was in love with Cloud so she took the prank bravely.

Sephiroth would most likely conspire with Tifa in more frog-attacks even if he was the one who'd brought Aeris on a date...!

Now Aeris was giggling silently.

Sephiroth was a walking mass of contradictions!

He was ShinRa's greatest general. A warrior with no superior nor equal. He was a killer, an unrivaled weapon wielded by power-hungry hands of men hiding in their safe offices. The strongest man alive.

Still, kindness was a foreign word for him and simple games were a mystery to him. Sephiroth was as innocent to the world's light sides as he was ruling the dark ones.

Aeris touched her lips again, feeling her heart slowly beginning to calm down.

She shouldn't be thinking about Sephiroth's future! She should be thinking about being reunited with Cloud!

Aeris would bring him to the ice lands and they would dance under the Northern Lights too!

Sighing, Aeris wrapped her arms around herself. No... Cloud was not the type to do such impulsive things... Nor would he engage in childish acts such as snowball fights... She would miss Sephiroth's eagerness to try out anything freedom could offer him, even games and imaginative ball-rooms!

Suddenly she didn't feel like smiling anymore. Life would be so different from before she got to knew the man who'd impaled her with his sword. Her killer and friend.

Her thoughts then got interrupted as the Sage came traipsing up the stairs, mumbling something about impolite whippersnappers and such an action with a sword would be physically impossible, thus making that a futile threat!

Two entire hours passed, and just as Aeris was about to and look for him did Sephiroth enter the house again.

He gazed cautiously at her, and she felt her face flush as she managed a shaky smile.

"You must be a Sephcicle by now," Aeris declared concerned, fighting the urge to hide her face behind her hands. "You should warm up by the fire. How's the bandages?"

The silver haired man paused, apparently considering something, then seemed to understand that she tried to avoid to talk about what had happened. "I'm fine." Sephiroth mumbled, walking over to hold his hands out towards the fire.

Aeris watched the lights dance over his handsome features, his eerie eyes glowing unnaturally in the semi-dark. Her heart began to thump again.

"Yeah, well, we should rest up while we can," Aeris stuttered, "we have a long way tomorrow!"

Sephiroth glanced over at her without turning his head, "we need a chocobo for that..."

Aeris began to fidget with the tip of her braid, "uhm, the Sage said one will show up at dawn."

"Oh, really?!" Sephiroth huffed, "then we shouldn't be surprised to find a Bandersnatch at the doorstep tomorrow with that old fossile's memory!"

Giggling again, Aeris hushed at him as she glanced over at the Sage, "he'll hear you!"

"Don't care if he does!" Sephiroth snapped, "if that wrinkly bat even speaks to me again, I'm going to rip off his arm and beat him to death with it!"

Aeris hushed him louder, motioning for him to sit down in front of the fire. "Be quiet! Now, let's see how those bandages are..."

There hadn't really been much talking that evening, and Sephiroth was secretly relived when they rolled out sleeping mats near the still burning fire as his body was firmly telling him how tired he really was!

Carefully resting on his side, Sephiroth had one hand under his head and the other resting by habit on the hilt of Masamune. His eyes dwelling on the sleeping girl a mere meter from him.

He had no idea what possessed him when he suddenly kissed her, but Sephiroth did certainly not regret it! He never would.

His eyes were now by her lips, and he unwillingly remembered the feeling of having them against his own. She hadn't objected, had she? Then again, Sephiroth hadn't exactly given her much of a warning or a chance to avoid the event...

The silver haired man sighed depressed, the sight of her asleep brought forth a longing to hold her close and feel every breath she'd take. He wanted to draw in the scent of flowers from her hair and never let her go.

Was it wrong?

Probably...

Aeris was a radiant angel, Sephiroth merely a fallen one if he'd ever been an angel at all.

She was light, as he was darkness. She was salvation and he'd sinned more than anyone else on the planet.

Still the longing in his heart would not go away. No matter how hard he tried and what he told himself, something inside him still reached out for her.

Sephiroth could feel Jenova stirring in his blood, telling him that the girl would return to the puppet and he could easily prevent it by letting Meteor end everything. If he couldn't have the girl, why should anybody?

Tensing, Sephiroth closed his eyes hard as he willed the thoughts away.

Jenova no longer controlled him, even if he could feel her in his very veins. She could infuse thoughts into his mind and poison his peace, but she could no longer make him do anything he didn't want to anymore!

Though the thought of Aeris returning to the blonde man sickened Sephiroth, he would make it happen if only it made her happy. That was all that really mattered, wasn't it? For all his evil deeds, Sephiroth didn't really deserve absolution.

And this last week had given his life more meaning than all the years predating it.

The former general sighed again, closing his eyes.

He'd heard of men being brought to their knees by the silly emotion called 'love', but he'd always considered himself above it and scoffed at their tragic destinies.

It had to be life's sense of irony that sent him down that very path, as Sephiroth had little doubt anymore... He was in love with her.

There was no other way to describe the feeling he got whenever he was around her, the way her smile made his heart jump and how her mere presence made his confusing thoughts silent.

Smiling wryly, Sephiroth opened his eyes to gaze upon Aeris' sleeping face again.

The puppet and his friends had set out to kill him, yet it was this frail, little girl that had defeated him utterly. No sword had been used, her weapon had been kindness and a smile. Her accomplices had been candy and snowballs.

The mortal stab, a dance under the Northern Lights to music only they could hear...

When Aeris woke up, she glance around to find herself alone in the house.

Blinking confused, she got up unsteadily and stretched to her full length before forcefully pushing away a nervous feeling. It didn't have to mean there was something wrong...

As she walked down the stairs a cheerful wark greeted her, and Aeris glanced over to see a green chocobo standing inside what had to be a small stable.

"Hey there," Aeris greeted and walked over to pet the bright-eyed bird. It warked softly and leaned it's head against her hand, and Aeris laughed softly. "Aren't you the cutie? Listen, I'm looking for my friend. Have you seen him? Tall, silver haired man with this long sword."

The chocobo warked and lifted it's head to gaze at the door.

Glancing back, Aeris then faced the chocobo again. "Outside? Thanks." She picked up a green from a bucket on the ground and fed it to the huge bird, petting it a final time before wandering off to find Sephiroth.

Outside it was freezing cold as usual, and Aeris felt her stomach tighten at the sight of Meteor even closer. A couple of days, maximum, before it would strike the planet... Shaking off the bad feeling, Aeris then became aware of voices and she instantly recognized one of them as Sephiroth's.

Trotting to the back of the house, she came to a scudding halt at the sight that met her.

Sephiroth had his arms grumpily crossed, staring up at Meteor as the Sage was telling him the recipe for Sylkis Green-pie, and behind them again was a chocobo.

A chocobo unlike anyone she'd ever seen before.

It's feathers were shining like gold, and it's beak and claws appeared to be golden as well. It's was beautiful.

"Aeris?" Sephiroth's voice brought her back from her staring and she gave him a sheepish smile.

The Sage waved his cane in greeting, receiving a narrow look from the silver haired man. "I was just asking your husband here if you two were in the need of a chocobo!" He turned back to Sephiroth, "where are you going, by the way...?"

Aeris blinked wide-eyed, feeling her face turning crimson. Her husband?!

"Aeris, time to leave!" Sephiroth snapped, his patience with the old man just about gone.

Hurrying over, Aeris petted the chocobo that warked curiously, "hey there, beautiful."

She thanked the Sage as Sephiroth struggled to put a bridle on the bird, the animal keeping still benignly despite the hissed curses. "I can't thank you enough, Mr Sage. You really saved us, and maybe the lives of many people!"

The old man scratched his temple with the top of his cane, "Sage? That was a familiar name indeed... I think I might know him as well!"

Aeris had to smile, giving him a quick hug, "be sure to give my thanks to him then."

"I will be sure to do just that," the Sage promised, petting her arm before she released him, "and you could do worse, mind you!"

Blinking puzzled, Aeris stared at the cane he was waving lecturing in her face, "do worse...?"

It was hard to tell, but the tiny man might have smiled inside all that beard, "he's quite willing to die for you, and not many men have that honour these days! Maybe you shouldn't toss such a commitment away...? But it's hard to say who needs the other the most though..."

But before Aeris could say anything, the Sage wandered over to Sephiroth, and she was left to gaze absently after him.

"Would you like some tea before you leave?" The old man asked the flustered Sephiroth, peering up at him under his huge hat.

"NO!" Sephiroth exclaimed, frustrated and eager to leave.

The Sage studied him for a little while, then reached out and poked his cane at Sephiroth's shoulder, "should you traveling with such a wound?"

This time Sephiroth screamed. In pain, rage and resentment. "Dammit, old man! Stop poking me with that thing!" His hand landed on the Masamune just as Aeris' hands locked around his wrist.

Gazing puzzled over at her, Sephiroth sighed resigned as she shook her head. "Come on, Aeris... Can't I even kill him a little?"

The firm look she sent him was answer enough, and Sephiroth forced himself calm.

"Alright, come on then..." He was about to jump up on the chocobo, when it kneeled down beside him almost as if it knew he was injured. Blinking surprised, he hesitatingly got on the huge animal and held out a hand to Aeris.

She turned to give the Sage a final hug, thanking him again, before taking Sephiroth's hand and get up behind him.

It took hardly a touch with his heels before the chocobo set off in a light trot and they heard the Sage's final words follow them;

"Good luck, Sephiroth and Aeris!"

And with that, the little man wandered inside his little house to pause by his stairs. "Nice couple. An angel, that girl. And that boy her knight. Like in the old days. Yupp. Hope they make it."

The Sage walked up the stairs and sat by the fire, sighing. "It's been a while since there's been anyone but me here... Haven't seen anyone here for years... Can't remember the last person I saw here... Nope, can't remember for the life of me..."

Aeris yelped as Sephiroth turned to glare back at the tiny man,nearly loosing balance.

"That man does know who I am!" Sephiroth declared, "he said my name again! Even yours!"

Huffing, Aeris slid her arms around his waist, "what does it matter?"

The former general turned to face forward again, mumbling, "he could betray us. Who would want to help me?"

"I do," Aeris smiled, and she could feel him smile as well.

"That's different," Sephiroth stated, "I bet he gave us this chocobo because it's evil or allergic to water or something..."

Giggling, Aeris shook her head, "you're impossible!"

"Yeah, yeah, blame me," Sephiroth grumbled good-natured, strangely calmed by her words and presence. His tantrum was already forgotten, and if Aeris trusted that silly man then Sephiroth would too. He trusted her instinct.

Now it was all a matter of seeing if this chocobo could indeed cross the ocean or if they would drown trying...

Heh, now there was actually a third option to his crappy future; Die along the way!

"What's so funny?" Aeris asked suddenly, and he shook his head.

"Nothing," Sephiroth replied, "just thinking."

Aeris felt wonderfully warm against him, and he realised this chocobo trip wasn't completely horrible after all...

"Thinking about what?" Aeris let her head gently rest against his back, careful not to be near his injury.

Sephiroth hesitated, then glanced up at Meteor, "the future... and the past... Sometimes I think I think too much!"

Laughing silently, Aeris let one hand move up to play with a lock of silver hair dancing in the wind. "Never pictured you as the philosopher..."

Sephiroth smiled again, "so I'm still capable of surprising you? Good! I was afraid I was loosing my touch when you claimed I didn't scare you."

"Don't worry," Aeris said as she let the strands of silver hair slide between her fingers, "no one has ever surprised me as much as you have."

Falling silent for a little while, Sephiroth glanced up at Meteor, "in a good way or a bad way...?"

"Good," Aeris admitted, "you've actually proven yourself to be quite human, Sephiroth! Something I wasn't too sure about when I saw you at the Temple..."

Cutting a face, Sephiroth didn't like to think too much about the time when he was under Jenova's control. Not to mention the fact that he had driven the Masamune through the very girl who was praising him. "Not too sure that there is many who would agree with you.."

"I don't care about them!" Aeris declared hotly, and he was a little surprised at the firmness in her voice. "What do they know about what you've been through?"

The former general shifted uneasily, "listen... I don't need you to feel sorry for me, or anything..."

Aeris shrugged, "somebody has to." She then smiled and petted his shoulder feather-lightly, "but don't worry. I still think you're big and macho!"

Breaking out into a baffled laugh, Sephiroth let his hand rest over the arm she had around his waist, "and you will never cease to surprise me, Aeris!"

"Good!" Aeris smirked, "as the Sage sent with us food and a thermos with his special tea. He said he'd made it just for you!"

"WHAT?!" Sephiroth exclaimed, "get that thing away from me! Throw it away!"

Laughing, Aeris scolded him half-hearted as he began to squirm to get his hands on her bag, "eyes on the road, Sephiroth! Watch where we're going!"

"Bird-brain knows where we're going! Where is that liquid poison?!" Sephiroth then just about squeaked as Aeris had to place a hand to his side to keep her balance and he closed his eyes as she peered curiously at him.

She'd found out...

"You're... ticklish?" Aeris asked with the look of a child set free in a candy store, "y-you're actually ticklish?!"

Sephiroth sat rigid, staring straight ahed. "No...?" He said silently, knowing it was futile.

A startled yelp echoed through the mountains, followed by laughter and chuckled threats.

"If we fall off, I'm taking you with me!" Sephiroth laughed, squirming to get away from her hands barely touching his sides. "A-and I'm injured, you know! You're taking advantage of a weakened man! Have you no mercy? No pity?!"

Aeris giggled, "I thought you didn't want my pity?"

"I changed my mind!" Sephiroth whined between laughs, yet his grin only grew wider as Aeris let her hands slide around his waist instead and gave him a careful hug.

Yet Aeris stored that vital piece of information as Sephiroth wouldn't be injured forever!

"You're safe for now," Aeris relented, resting her cheek gently to his back again. "Until we stop to eat, that is. Then it's tea-time!"

AN

_And another chapter finished!_

_I would never have gotten this far if it hadn't been for all you wonderful reviewers! _

_Your words means the world to me, and I treasure every single one! Thanks a million, y'all!_

_Should have next chapter done in not too long, just let me know what you think by leaving one of those precious reviews!_


	9. Angels Crying

9.** Angels Crying**

Aeris closed her eyes hard as the chocobo made it's way down a steep hill, the waves of the ocean crashing against the rocks peering up at them from the darkness of the water.

Trying to desperately think about something else besides the possibility of disappearing under the cold ocean, Aeris hid her face against Sephiroths silver hair. It was yesterday they had left the Chocobo Sage, and the night had been spent under open sky, accompanied by a strangely silent Sephiroth. She wondered if Meteor's presence was affecting him as she could see him casting fleeting glances up at it from time to time.

Sephiroth didn't sleep at all last night, despite her urging him to, and Aeris couldn't help but to feel worried. There was something bothering him, and instinct told her it wasn't the possibility of Meteor landing on them all. It was something else...

The sound of splashing water made her slowly open her eyes, and Aeris gasped delighted as she saw the golden chocobo's feet run easily over the water surface. It was amazing!

"Well," Sephiroth shrugged, "never thought I would say this... but this chocobo is pretty ok."

Knowing his distaste for the big birds, Aeris made a mock gasp, "are you saying you like this chocobo? The great Sephiroth actually approves of a chocobo?!"

"Didn't say I liked it..." Sephiroth mumbled embarrassed, "just that it's not quite as idiotic as the others of it's breed."

Aeris giggled, "careful now, or I might start to believe you're actually capable of approving of something!"

Huffing, Sephiroth lifted his chin slightly, "I approve of many things."

"Yeah? Mention one thing you approve of that is not war-related!" Aeris dared, feeling slightly more relaxed by there mere sound of his voice, as it made her forget what could happen should she fall of the chocobo.

Sephiroth didn't hesitate. "You," he declared softly, "good enough answer?"

Aeris blinked. Then a smile spread on her face and she hugged him as tightly as she dared with him being injured, "that is so sweet of you, Sephiroth!"

Chuckling, Sephiroth shook his head slightly while placing one hand over hers, "well, now I've been called 'sweet' as well! My missions in life are now complete!"

"But you are sweet!" Aeris persisted, and added 'as well as drop-dead gorgeous' in her mind.

The silver haired man snorted mirthfully, "I am terrifying, thank you!"

"Adorable!" Aeris retorted, grinning as she felt him twitch.

"Mind-numbingly scary, if you don't mind!" Sephiroth demanded haughtily, fighting off a smile of his own.

"Cute!" It was almost impossible not to laugh now, but Aeris bit her lower lip in a brave effort.

"Horrifying!" Sephiroth shot back, loosing against the chuckles that fought to get free.

"Cuddly! Amiable! Gentle! Snuggly!" Aeris listed up, scanning her mind to add more.

"Frightful! Awe-inspiring! Fearsome! Magnificent! Exalted!" Sephiroth retaliated, realising he was having the most absurd argument of his life!

Aeris giggled, and they kept up their word-fight until Sephiroth suddenly fell silent after hours of good-natured bickering.

"Something wrong?" Aeris stretched to peer over his shoulder, "ooh, why do you have to be so tall?" Her smile then faded as she saw the main-land in the distance, and Aeris sank down into her previous position, resting her cheek to his back. She should be happy that they were almost at their goal. Each step the chocobo took was bringing her closer to a future with Cloud and the destruction of Meteor. The Meteor that was now dangerously close, it's heat making the temperature rise several degrees.

So why wasn't she happy?!

Aeris closed her eyes, unaware of how silent and tense Sephiroth had grown too. The cheerful mood had vanished and they both sank into deep thoughts.

She had no doubt that Cloud and AVALANCHE would be able to defeat Jenova, and she knew the blonde had survived his trip in the Lifestream as the planet had let her see his dreams. Aeris was also aware that Meteor would probably be able to cause some damage despite everything, but with her and Sephiroth warning the inhabitants of Midgar the casualties should be non-existent.

So why was she still not happy?!

Sephiroth was grateful that Aeris fell silent as well. At the sight of the main-lands in the horizon made him loose all his playfulness, and he just wanted to focus on the feeling of her close. A few hours away and his time with Aeris would be over. They would warn ShinRa and it would be up to the fiery-haired brat wether he wanted to save Midgars inhabitants or not, but either way Sephiroth would never be alone with Aeris again.

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard before opening them again and forced himself to focus on the approaching beach ahed of them.

Sephiroth had no idea what he was going to do with himself if they survived through all of this. It was the first time in his life that he was free to make his own decisions, and no one cared what he did with that freedom. Freedom was a double-edged sword. No one was pulling his strings, but at the same time it meant that he was alone. Sephiroth never had anyone he could actually call a friend, his position and superiors wouldn't allow it. The closest he came to a friendship was with the soldier named Zack, but he too had died. Everything and everyone Sephiroth touched withered and died.

A little while later did the golden chocobo's feet touched solid ground, and silence continued to linger between the two. Each unaware of the other's gloomy thoughts.

Sephiroth was completely unprepared for the intense pain that suddenly raged through his pain and automatically grasped his head with an agonized sound, almost loosing balance.

"Sephiroth! What's wrong?" Aeris exclaimed worried, supporting him with her grip around him to prevent him from falling off. "Sephiroth?"

He was unable to answer. The sound of a thousand demons howling rushed through his mind, a mocking laugh and the taste of blood was all he could sense.

Getting hold of the reins, Aeris managed to stop the chocobo and could only watched in pained anxiousness as Sephiroth crumbled slightly forward with his eyes closed hard. What was happening?!

The pain was so intense he wanted to scream, but he wouldn't give in! Sephiroth barely managed to open his eyes a glitch to see a figure approaching them from a distance. Silver hair and black clothing.

Jenova.

Forcing himself to react, Sephiroth straightened and removed Aeris' arms from around him.

The girl was clearly frightened and did not understand what was happening, her confusion not decreasing as he slid off the chocobo to stand on wobbly feet.

"Sephiroth, what are you doing? What is happening?" Aeris wanted to get off as well, but Sephiroth placed a hand on her knee to prevent her and she gazed quizzically at him.

"Listen," Sephiroth said, his voice dull with pain, "you have to get to Midgar and warn them, ok?"

Frowning confused, Aeris tried to get an answer by reading his face, "what do you mean? We are going to Midgar and warn everyone!"

The silver haired man gave a faint smile, "I can't. Now, the chocobo should be able to out-run any monster you come across, and promise me you wont stop until you're inside Midgar's gates, ok?"

Just as she was about to object, Aeris saw the figure in the distance and she paled. A Sephiroth-clone. She quickly gazed down at Sephiroth again, eyes filled with fear. "Sephiroth, no! You can't fight her now! You're injured!"

Glancing briefly at the clone that had halted a short distance from them, Sephiroth then focused on Aeris again, "she wont let us pass. The only way is to fight her, or none of us will reach Midgar. Now, go."

Shaking her head fiercly, Aeris made sign to get down, "no! No, I won't let you do this! Not alone! Together we might stand a chance, but I'm NOT leaving you here!"

Sephiroth gave a weak smile, speaking in a soft voice, "thank you... for everything..."

The he gave the chocobo a hard slap over it's feathery thigh, and the bird warked startled before running off.

Sephiroth heard Aeris call out his name, but he didn't look as the bird was bringing her away from him and into safety, instead he pulled out the Masamune and slowly walked towards the awaiting clone.

"I will just hunt her down and kill her after I finish you, you know, traitor!" The clone sneered, walking towards him as well.

Sephiroth cut the air absently with the Masamune, "you're welcome to try. Others have tried to kill me, and everyone has failed. And I'm feeling particularly cranky today!"

The clone raised an eyebrow, "ah, yes, the thought of that Ancient returning to the awaiting arms of the puppet troubles you, does it not?"

Flinching, Sephiroth got into a fighting stance, "shut up!"

"You can't hide anything from me, Sephiroth," the clone chuckled, making no move to take out his sword, "our minds are one! Every thought that passed through you is known to me, and your secrets are mine to laugh at!"

Sephiroth charged and was slightly surprised to find Masamune cutting through empty air. Quickly gazing around, he barely avoided the fake Masamune separating his head from his shoulders, and Sephiroth used the opportunity to let the real sword attack.

Jumping back, he then watched with a smug look as the clone's arm fell to the ground, still clutching the sword.

The clone gazed down at the limb, then smiled at Sephiroth, "that's quite impressive. No wonder they call you the great general... But still not good enough!"

The smug remark got stuck in Sephiroth's throat as he saw the clone start to convulse and shake uncontrollably. What was going on?

"Jenova..." Sephiroth whispered, taking a step back as he watched the clone twist and grow into the mutated shape of a Jenova-monster that towered over him. This one was far more powerful than any he'd ever encountered before, and Sephiroth realised he might not survive this fight after all.

Get back into a fighting stance, Sephiroth tilted his head slightly with a smirk, "well then... shall we?"

A tentacle rammed into the ground where he'd been standing a mere second earlier, and Sephiroth spun around to let the Masamune cut through a pulsating lump at Jenova's side. The creatures scream was music to his ears. This was the one thing Sephiroth knew, the only thing that could never confuse him; fight to kill.

Magic attacks flew around him, as Sephiroth dodged them he used every chance to lash out at the creature looking to destroy the very planet.

The attacks and counter-attacks seemed to go on forever.

He was starting to feel a ray of hope shining down on him when pain exploded inside his head and Sephiroth nearly crashed to his knees. Stumbling, he avoided Jenova's tentacle by pure luck and Sephiroth clutched the Masamune with one hand as he pressed the other to his temple.

His vision blurred and he felt the taste of blood spreading in his mouth.

Sephiroth saw the tentacle comming, and he knew he had to get out of the way or it would impale him, but his legs simply wouldn't carry him. He managed to stumble two steps, feeling the attack almost brushing him as it rammed into the ground and sent him flying through the air.

The ground came up to greet him most painfully and Sephiroth felt all the air being knocked out of his lungs. He had to move, or he would die, his mind screamed. Move! Sephiroth fought for air, his entire body numb with raw agony, yet his mind screamed for him to move! MOVE!

Rolling over, he shuddered as Jenova's tentacle rammed into where he'd been and he placed his hands to the ground to push himself up. Strangely enough he was capable of feeling even more pain as he got up, swaying as he touched his chest. Sephiroth's hand came up soaked in blood. His wound had been torn up and he was now bleeding to death. And fast.

Every breath felt like swallowing liquid fire and coldness was seeping into him, yet the silver haired man raised his face to gaze at Jenova. It wasn't over yet.

Sephiroth might be dying, but he'd take that damn creature with him!

Clutching the Masamune tightly with both hands, Sephiroth smirked slightly as a trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, "I'll see you in Hell, 'mother'!"

Gathering his last ounce of strength, Sephiroth put everything in a final jump. He leaped high up in the air, gazing down at Jenova awaiting him on the ground and with Meteor burning behind his back, whispering the words only he could hear, "Aeris... Forgive me..."

Then he shot down, the Masamune in front of him, and he could only hear Jenova roar in challenge before it all happened so fast he was unable to really understand it.

An unnaturally warm breeze travelled over the plains as silence had fallen, and the only sound was that of strained breathing.

Sephiroth felt so tired, his eyes slowly closing.

Jenova was dead, the body split in two was slumped beside the crumbled form of the blood-soaked Sephiroth. His attack had succeeded, but it had cost him everything he had left. He was lying on his side, his right hand still clutching the Masamune while the other lay limp on the ground and all he wanted to do was fall asleep.

Sephiroth felt so tired... Oh, so tired...

Something flew pass him, and he vaguely recognized how the air was filled with white light. Holy. It was going to alright now... Meteor would be destroyed, and they would all be safe. Aeris would be safe.

He was letting himself sink into the tempting darkness when voices began screaming. Voices? People screaming? No, it didn't sound like humans... It sounded like something ancient... in pain...

Sephiroth managed a ghost of a frown. Something was wrong.

He forced his eyes to open a glitch and it took several seconds before he was able to focus, but the sight made him start with fear.

Meteor was entering Holy, melting with it, and Sephiroth could hear Midgar being torn to pieces even when he couldn't see the town. He'd sent Aeris there!

_Release the Lifestream_, the words seemed to enter his mind, and the silver haired man closed his eyes again.

I can't, he thought, so tired...

_Release the Lifestream or everything has been in vain..._

A second passed, then Sephiroth's hand moved. Just an inch. Then his eyelashes fluttered before his eyes opened.

One last mission... for Aeris...

He had no idea how he managed it, but Sephiroth found himself swaying on his feet and agonizingly slow made his way along the plains unaware of the trail of blood in his wake.

Halting as if he saw some invisible mark, Sephiroth then raised the Masamune with both hands as he let his very life-energy seep into it. Release the Lifestream, and they would live. Aeris would live.

Drawing a pained breath, Sephiroth then rammed the powerful sword into the ground, crashing to his knees as the bright light erupted from the cracks that spread from the wound. The Lifestream. He did it.

Then the green light engulfed him, and Sephiroth felt himself being swept away.

Meteor was slowly descending down on Midgar and the air was filled with the sounds of the city being torn to pieces and the cries of the Planet, but Aeris didn't care. She urged the chocobo to run faster, tears trailing down her cheeks. It had take forever to persuade the huge bird to turn around, but for once Aeris would not be deterred! Sephiroth had no chance against Jenova alone in his state! And he knew it...

Well, if he planned on sacrificing his life so that she would live, then he would be sorely disappointed! Aeris would be damned before she'd let him do something like that! He was trying to pull every trick he knew so that he would make her break her promise to him, a promise to show him what this world could offer.

"Be alive, Sephiroth," Aeris prayed through sobs, shutting out the heat from Meteor from her mind. "Be alive long enough for me to reach you... I want to see you again..."

If they all were going to die anyway, Aeris realised she wanted to die with Sephiroth. By his side. In his arms. It didn't matter, as long as he was there. She was not afraid when he was there to protect her.

"Sephiroth!" Aeris called out, gazing wildly around, then started as she saw the huge form of the defeated Jenova.

The chocobo warked in protest and came to a halt. It would not go any further, and Aeris was just getting off when the ground shook violently. Earthquake? She swayed to keep balance, seeing the ground cracking up as the Lifestream came shooting up.

Running towards the silent Jenova, Aeris was calling out for Sephiroth as she ignored the voices of her ancestors telling her to get to safety.

The sight of all the blood on the ground made Aeris feel sick, knowing Jenova did not bleed. "Sephiroth..."

She then noticed the trail of blood and trotted along it to find it ending by a huge gap in the ground. Aeris sank to her knees in defeat and cried in silent agony.

Something caught her attention and she raised her tear filled eyes to the Lifestream dancing above her, and something glinted in it.

Aeris got up, staring at the object as it seemed to be falling towards her.

She didn't flinch as the Masamune came swirling through the air and jabbed into the ground in front of her. The hilt was stained with blood.

Aeris let the tears run silently as she reached out and took a hold of the powerful sword, feeling the blood still warm against her palm. "Sephiroth..."

It was impossible to make the sword budge. It would obey no other than the former general. And Aeris saw a drop of blood run down the blade like a crimson tear...

Drawing a sharp breath, Aeris wiped her tears away angrily, "I won't let you have him!" She then stepped into the Lifestream, her blood-stained hand clenched hard as she let the green light surround her.

It wasn't the first time Aeris entered the Lifestream, but this time it was by her own will and not because of the Masamune in the hands of Sephiroth. Her heart was filled with sorrow, longing and a feeling she had yet to name, and not regret like the time before.

_This is no place for the living. Go back, young one._

Aeris firmly ignored the bodiless voices, showing no sign she'd even heard them. She was not here to speak with spirits.

Finally her surroundings flickered and she could see the vague contour of someone walking towards her, and Aeris braced herself.

"Aeris?" The voice was soft and filled with affection. A voice that was so familiar. "Aeris, my sweet girl, you shouldn't be here."

Aeris drew a slow breath as her mother materialized in front of her, her heart instantly recognizing the woman her memory barely managed to produce an image of. "I know, but there's been a mistake..."

Ifalna reached out and touched Aeris' tear-soaked cheek, "I'm afraid not, my child. This was how it was meant to be. It was decided when you were sent back."

Confusion flickered in Aeris' eyes and she took a step back. "I don't understand... What do you mean it was already decided? It didn't matter what I did?"

Ifalna shook her head, her eyes pleading for Aeris to understand, "of course it matters what you have done. Without you the planet would have been destroyed, and everything would have perished. You saved us all!"

A thousand thoughts ran through her head and Aeris found it hard to breathe. It was already decided, when she approached his camp that night, his death-sentence was already written and there was nothing she could do about it. She'd watched him struggle and win. She'd seen the tortured soul inside him stretch for freedom and peace. Aeris had promised to give him freedom, and she had lied. It had already been decided. It didn't matter. Nothing had.

"NO!" Aeris screamed, tears flowing anew. "How could you?! He was trying SO hard, and it didn't matter to you?! All his pain was for nothing?! His sacrifices in vain?!"

Starting at the anger, Ifalna raised a hand to her heart, "Aeris... please... you must understand... He's evil... What he has done, it cannot be forgiven. A tool of Jenova must be destroyed."

Gazing around, Aeris saw the flickering shapes in the green light. "A tool? If he's no more than a tool to you, then how can I be any more valuable? A tool of Jenova and a tool of the Ancients...! So why let me live? My life shouldn't mean more to you than his, according to your words!"

"Don't say such words," Ifalna wrapped her arms around herself. "Of course your life is important to us."

Aeris shook her head slowly, "lies... It was all lies..." She'd believed in what they'd told her. And they had used that trust. Sephiroth had placed his soul in her hands, and she had lead him into his death.

Sephiroth had taken her life with the Masamune once, her sin was infinitely worse. A guilt she would never be able to live with.

Sinking to her knees, Aeris closed her eyes. "If my mission has earned me an ounce of your gratitude, then let me be spared from returning to the planet ever again."

Gasping, Ifalna kneeled beside her, "Aeris! You cannot mean this!"

The memory the last time she saw Sephiroth flashed pass her eyes. His eyes gentle, yet filled with pain. _"Thank you... for everything..."_

Aeris shivered and slowly opened her eyes again, "he saved my life. He fought against Jenova by his own free will. He... he was trying, and that was more than good enough for me. Isn't that why we're supposed to be better than the likes of Jenova? Because we possess mercy, kindness and the ability to give a second chance to someone who's willing to try?"

There was a long silence, and Aeris let her gaze wander in hopes of meeting some understanding from the vague forms flickering in the light.

That was when she noticed the only shape keeping still. A shape floating somewhere ahed of her inside the Lifestream.

Sephiroth.

He could almost appear asleep, his silver hair dancing around him and his hands limply by his sides. However, the pained expression on his face ruined the docile atmosphere and Aeris jumped to her feet. "Sephiroth!" She ran towards him until an invisible barrier halted her a mere meter away.

_For him to live, would you surrender you life?_

The voice was unlike any voice Aeris had ever heard. Deep and ancient.

"Yes," Aeris declared without hesitation as she placed her hands against the barrier like she wanted to reach out and touch the still form of Sephiroth.

_Would you surrender your ancient blood, thus leaving you without any means of communicating with your ancestors and loosing your connection with the planet?_

Her eyes were locked on Sephiroth, and Aeris nodded quickly, "for him, I would."

Ifalna stepped up beside Aeris, glancing at the silver haired man before focusing on her daughter again, "why are you doing this, Aeris?"

Smiling through tears, Aeris moved her hand so it would have touched Sephiroth's face had it not been for the barrier and the distance, "because I love him."


	10. Live to Tell

**epilogue;**

The sun was shining over the town called Mideel and a young woman was returning to her little house after work. Her dark hair dancing in the light breeze while her eyes showed her thoughts were miles away from the pleasant surroundings. Her left hand was absently stroking her stomach, lovingly caressing the slight swelling that revealed the life growing inside her. Still there was a sadness about her. Loneliness.

"Uhm, excuse me..." Aeris stepped out on the road to greet the approaching woman and hoisted her flower-basket slightly, "you look like you could use a flower."

Giving a weak smile, the woman halted and shook her head apologetically, "I'm afraid I don't have any gil on me right now..."

Aeris returned her smile with a bright one, "don't worry about it!" She picked up a deep red rose, the tip of it's petals almost black, "here. They say this rose helps to soothe the worried heart."

Gazing at the flower, the woman hesitatingly accepted it. Her fingertips lightly touched the fragile petals, like the colour reminded her of someone.

Aeris hoisted her basket again, "you know... that daughter of yours will be her father's exact image..."

Starting, the woman automatically place her free hand protectively to her stomach, "w-what...?"

Turning to leave, Aeris gave her a final reassuring smile, "you needn't worry so much. Your daughter will be fine. She'll have no demons to carry, but will help her father fight his. And she will be a strong fighter as well, so try not to worry so much, ok?"

Before she could reply, Aeris had disappeared behind a house and was watching as hope spread over the previously so concerned face.

"You done playing mystical, good fairy yet?" A voice grumbled from beside Aeris, the voice belonging to a tall figure hidden by a black cloak.

Straightening, Aeris sent her companion a resigned look, "you're no fun, Sephiroth!"

Letting his hood fall down, Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "yes, it's so exceedingly amusing to sneak into towns knowing they'd have my head if they see me and hiding in the shadows while you could get hurt before I would reach you should something go wrong!"

Aeris smiled softly, reaching up to caress his cheek, "you wouldn't let that happen. I trust you." And with that, she turned to leave the town. Their mission accomplished for now.

"H-hey," Sephiroth quickly pulled his hood up again as he knew his silver hair wasn't exactly the least attention-drawing trait about him, "are we going home now?"

Aeris nodded, "yeah, it's all up to Vincent now." And something told her the former Turk wasn't someone who gave up easily.

Sephiroth let out a sharp whistle and a cheerful wark was heard from the forrest and a shining gold chocobo came trotting out to meet them.

Aeris had a suspicion that the Chocobo Sage had told the bird to stay by their side, despite Sephiroth declaring it was just because they'd been foolish enough to feed it once and now it was set on leeching on them for the rest of it's lazy years!

"Yeah, yeah, bird-brain," Sephiroth scolded half-hearted as the chocobo nudged it's head against his chest rather harshly and the former general pulled out a couple of greens he'd brought.

Aeris smiled softly at the sight, even more when she saw Sephiroth slide a discrete hand up to scratch the chocobo's feathery neck. He'd changed so much. Oh, there was still half a dozen tantrums a day, but he was learning. Every day, he was becoming more like the man he could have been had not cruel hands interfered with his life.

Aeris glanced up at the sun, her thoughts wandering back 6 months earlier...

She remembered seeing Sephiroth in the Lifestream, remembered giving up on everything for him then it all turned black.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was in a bed. Blinking confused, Aeris sat up to realise she was at the Icicle Inn and Sephiroth was asleep in a chair by the bed. It had been impossible to hold back the tears, but she had to laugh at the startled look in Sephiroth's eyes when being yanked out of slumber by a girl hugging the air out of him while switching between sobbing and smiling.

Later, when she had calmed down, Sephiroth had quietly admitted that his visit in the Lifestream had been a painful one. But with all his sins, he'd accepted the punishment and Aeris knew it was a huge part in the Lifestream's decision to return him to the planet.

Aeris had to smile embarrassed as she remembered the yelling she gave Sephiroth for chasing her away on the chocobo while remaining to fight a futile battle against Jenova. He still refused to apologize for that.

It was the day after when Sephiroth heard them for the first time. The ancients. He'd been terrified, certain he was loosing his mind, but Aeris had understood.

They had been returned to the planet for a reason.

And for 6 months now they had been traveling around helping people and fighting monsters, following the orders from the ancient that was given to Sephiroth.

Aeris had been heart-broken to learn that Nanaki had fallen in the fight against Jenova, and that Yuffie was still in a coma. She knew battles demanded their victims, but it didn't hurt any less. Sephiroth had said nothing, merely held her close as she cried.

Her surprise was great when she learned that Rufus ShinRa had joined forced with AVALANCHE in the fight, and that Tifa was now living with him. Almost as surprised as when Sephiroth told her the ancients wanted her to make sure Vincent Valentine's child would come to no harm because of her mother's distress.

And Cloud... He'd been traveling ever since Jenova was defeated, roaming restlessly from one corner of the world to another, and Aeris dreaded the day when she'd meet him. It was easy to hide behind the fact that she had no idea where he was, and that she had missions to accomplish, but she knew he deserved to know the truth...

"What's up with the gloomy look?" Sephiroth's voice brought her back to the present, and she blinked the depressing thoughts away.

She noticed he'd already gotten up on the chocobo and was offering her his hand. Taking it, Aeris got up on the chocobo as well, settling behind him. "I just want to go home now and have a few days of peace, that's all."

Home was now Icicle town to them. The place where everybody knew who Sephiroth was, but simply did not care. To them, he was just another man, who just happened to have a name that gave everyone at the mainland a nervous twitch.

"Yeah," Sephiroth agreed, "that would be nice, huh?" He set the chocobo in motion, their course straight for the ice lands.

Finally back at the remote ice town, Aeris was busy building up a fire while Sephiroth was still outside, taking care of the chocobo. They had taken over the very house where Aeris' parents had lived. The old woman at the inn had shown Aeris the house, even the video tapes that still remained. It had been horrible to look at, but Sephiroth had stayed beside her throughout it all. It was now a house filled with life and warmth again, her father's thingamajigs was ejected and she'd happily redecorated the place to her own taste and Sephiroth's light grumbling. She never thought over how it had ended up with the two of them living there, but knew she would have it no other way. Sephiroth was still insisting on sleeping upstairs, and not in the basement apartment where Aeris had her bed. He'd claimed it was because he was frightened half to death that her flowery covers was contagious and he'd wake up with his skin covered with daffodils, but she knew he simply didn't trust himself. But, dammit, after seeing him walking around in nothing but his black pants, Aeris had seriously considered sneaking up one night and see what would happen. The thought brought a furious blush to her cheeks, and Aeris tossed another log onto the fire, knowing herself it would stay with the frustrated thoughts. Heck, she hadn't even managed to summon up enough courage to tell him she loved him! He was probably prancing around half-naked on purpose, the tease! Knowing what effect it had on her!

That was when a strong arm went around her waist and she was hoisted up. Squeaking with surprise, Aeris squirmed to get free only to freeze when something was shoved down her neck. Snow.

"Sephiroth!" Aeris screamed as he released her, backing up with a cackling laugh while rubbing his hands.

"It's cold outside," he declared innocently, watching as Aeris franticly groped for the snow melting down her back.

"You're going to pay for that!" She declared, launching herself at him and her nimble fingers easily found his sides.

"Aaaaah, no fair!" Sephiroth yelped, trying to grab a hold of her wrists as he laughed helplessly. Dammit, why did she have to find out he was so damn ticklish?! It made their fights so much harder!

He backed up until he suddenly bumped into her bed and feel backwards to land with huge eyes. Glancing around, Sephiroth then let out a horrified shout and thrashed franticly to get up, "gah, it's sucking me in!"

Huffing, Aeris pounced and straddled his stomach as she continued her assault on his sensitive sides, "making fun of my bed-sheets, are you?!"

Laughing and squirming desperately, Sephiroth finally managed to get a hold of her wrists and locked his grip around them as he removed her hands.

Catching her breath, Aeris was smiling as well as she met Sephiroth's eyes. Life was good, she realised. Tilting her head, Aeris made no sign to free herself from his grip. "Sephiroth...?"

The silver haired man puffed his bangs out his face, "yeah?"

Now or never.

"I love you," Aeris stated softly, knowing their future was going to be decided by his reply.

Sephiroth was gazing at her like he didn't believe what she said, or that he'd heard wrong. Slowly, his hands released hers and travelled up to cup her face, and Sephiroth let a thumb brush over her lips.

"Say it again," he demanded silently, eyes locked with hers.

Aeris shivered, "I love you."

Sephiroth exhaled, like he'd been holding his breath for a long time, then gave her the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen. "And I've been in love with you for a long, long time, flower-girl..." He carefully guided her down for a warm kiss, then hugged her close. "Will you still love me when I'm covered in daffodils...?"

Aeris' hands moved and Sephiroth's eyes widened as they landed on his sides, "Aeris! No, seriously! I was only joking! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

Yet, his pleads was only followed by his laughter, and for a little while they were allowed to just be themselves and together.

Free to live.

And free to love.

The End...

A/N

_Wow... A sad day indeed when the final letter was written in this chapter, and that is simply because, uhm, the story was never meant to go any further than this..._

_When I started out with this fic, I had a plan ready and was already considering writing another fic with a different pairing..._

_However, with all the wonderful reviews (and not to mention that I've grown found of this story as well) I'm actually considering writing a sequel, but I'm going to leave that up to you._

_Should or shouldn't I write a sequel? Press review button and give vote! _

_Still, I hope you enjoyed the final chapter in the World is not Enough, and if you wonder about the destinies of the others in AVALANCHE, it might be worth to mention that all my fics are in the same universe and you can find answers in the other fics. _

_And finally, thanks once again for all your kind words! Without them, I would never have gotten this far at all! _

_A deep personal thanks to every single one who took the time to write a review!_


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